Two Birds Of A Feather
by alb925
Summary: That year we both realized that we had a lot more in common than we thought and over time we both began to have feelings for each other. Some people would say this is due to hormones, but personally, I believe the Nargles must be behind it all.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I decided to do something a little different than the usual Fred/OC stories that I write and write one about Luna and Neville, who I really think should have ended up together in the books. **

**This takes place during OOTP and is written mainly from Luna's point of view and occaisonally Neville's. **

**Reviews would really be appreciated to let me know what people think. :)**

**I don't own Harry Potter. **

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><p>I was eleven years old when I first saw him. He was twelve. At the time, I didn't think anything of it. I passed him on the train and that was that. I didn't know who he was. I didn't know a thing about him and he didn't know a thing about me. It wasn't until my fourth year and his fifth year that I actually, truly talked to him and became his friend.<p>

My fourth year was kind of the turning point in my Hogwarts career. You see, I didn't have many friends before then. Actually, before that year the only person I can really say was my friend was Ginny Weasley. Most people in my year found great fun in calling me Loony Lovegood and hiding my belongings all over the castle. I didn't really mind the hiding all that much. It was all in good fun, and I began to think of it as a great big scavenger hunt.

Anyway, that year was when I finally had a group of friends to call my own, but it was also the year something else happened as well. It was the year I really got to know Neville Longbottom and he really got to know me. We both realized something that year. We both realized that we had a lot more in common than we thought and over time we both began to have feelings for each other. Some people would say this is due to hormones, but personally, I believe the Nargles must be behind it all.

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><p>"Luna darling, wake up, we have to leave in an hour to bring you to the train station."<p>

I woke up to the sound of my father's voice yelling up the stairs from the kitchen, two floors down. My bedroom was at the top floor of our circular house.

You see, my house is different from most houses. It has four floors. The first floor is where the kitchen, living room, and bathroom are. The second floor is my father's office, where he prints copies of The Quibbler. The next floor is my father's room and the top floor is my bedroom. I love having the top floor of the house. The view is great for sitting at the window and just daydreaming.

I rolled over in bed and looked at the picture on my night stand of me and my mother before she died. She had been my best friend and not a day went by where I didn't miss her.

My mother was fun and loved to laugh all the time. She also loved to draw and was always looking into space. When I asked why, she said she was thinking. Perhaps that's where I got that habit from. Besides drawing, my mother also liked to experiment with spells and potions. She was always careful, but one day things just went wrong. I'm not sure what exactly, but one minute she was perfectly fine, and the next minute she was gone. Just like that. I was nine years old at the time and in the house when it happened. A lot of people make horrified faces when they hear that and say how terrible it must have been. Yes, it was indeed terrible, but it was such a long time ago, I think it might have been worse if I had been older and more able to understand completely. I still wish people wouldn't make that face at me, though; that face that says 'I understand,' when really they have no clue, no idea.

Anyway, ever since then, it had been just me and dad. Sometimes we go looking for Crumple Horned Snorkacks together in different parts of the country. We haven't found any yet, but we believe they're out there somewhere. Crumple Horned Snorkacks are shy creatures, you see. My dad and I have become really close over the years, but sometimes he gets really busy with the magazine and it gets really lonely here.

As soon as I was dressed, I dragged my trunk down the stairs to the kitchen. My dad was putting a plate of eggs on the table. He smiled at me as I walked over and sat down. I silently put a small forkful of eggs in my mouth.

"Go ahead dear, eat up. You have a long trip ahead of you."

I nodded silently and continued to eat.

"Aren't you excited to go back to Hogwarts?" he asked.

"Yes, I am. It is quite pleasant there and all the Professors are so nice. Well, except Professor Snape, but I stay out of his way. I don't even think he knows I'm there mostly."

"Luna, darling, don't you have any…friends at school?" my father asked hesitantly.

"Of course I do."

"The thestrals and ghosts don't count, Luna," my father sighed.

I didn't answer and just stared at my eggs.

"There have to be some people who will be glad to have a friend like you, darling," my father smiled.

I half smiled back at him as he stood up and picked up my trunk. "Come on, let's get you to the station."

Five minutes to 11 o'clock, my father had loaded my trunk onto the train and he then turned to me and hugged me. "Have a good year, darling. Don't forget to write and I'll be sure to tell you if I have a Snorkack sighting."

I smiled. "We're still going to Sweden next summer, right?"

"Of course…I wouldn't miss an opportunity to search for the rare Snorkack without you dear," my father replied.

I turned and hopped onto the train. As it began to pull away, I stuck my head out the window and waved at my father. When he had disappeared from view, I sighed and grabbed the handle of my trunk. _Well, here I go, beginning my fourth year at Hogwarts. Same as usual, _I thought as I dragged my trunk down the train and nobody even bothered to glance my way. I peered into one compartment and saw Ginny Weasley surrounded by people. Ginny made friends so easily. I'm not quite sure how she did it.

I finally made it to the last compartment which appeared to be empty, so I dragged my trunk inside and lifted it to the rack above the seats.

"Hello," said a voice from behind me.

I spun around quickly to see a boy sitting by the window. I knew him. He was a fifth year Gryffindor. He was in the same dorm as Harry Potter. Neville Longbottom was his name.

"Hello…you did give me quite a fright. I didn't know anyone was in here," I said.

"Sorry," Neville shrugged. "You're Luna Lovegood, aren't you? I'm Neville Longbottom." He stuck out his hand.

"Nice to meet you," I said, shaking his hand. I was surprised he knew my name. Not a lot of people actually know who I am, and the majority of the people who do call me "Loony Lovegood", which I was surprised Neville didn't do either.

I sat down and opened a copy of _The Quibbler_ as Neville opened _The Daily Prophet_. It was silent for a few moments.

"You know, you should try reading _The Quibbler _sometime. My dad creates it," I said, breaking the silence, and peering at Neville over the top of my magazine.

Neville glanced down at the Prophet and then back up at me. "I've never tried reading it before. Some people say the articles aren't exactly, um, true…" he said hesitantly.

"Oh, they're all true," I answered, looking back down at the article I was reading. "My dad and I are going to Sweden to look for Crumple Horned Snorkacks next summer." I flipped a page.

"What's a-?" Neville began.

"Crumple Horned Snorkack? It's a creature that lives in Sweden and it kind of looks like a pig, but with a horn similar to a unicorn."

Neville nodded slowly so I reached into my bag and pulled out another copy of the Quibbler. "Here, keep it," I smiled.

Neville smiled back at me as he took the magazine from my hand. We sat in mostly silence for the rest of the ride, talking occasionally about something my dad had written. I think Neville quite enjoyed the articles. _He is a nice boy. I wish I knew him before now,_ I thought as we finally reached Hogwarts.

Once we reached the platform, Neville and I were separated in the crowd. I made my way to the carriages quickly. I was hungry, despite the eggs I had eaten that morning and the lunch I had on the train. I was hoping there would be lots of pudding at the feast.

I climbed into an empty carriage after giving the thestral pulling it a quick pat. I pulled out The Quibbler again, and began reading an article that required me to read upside down. After a moment, I heard footsteps, but I didn't look up. When you're used to being ignored, you tend to ignore other people.

"What is that?" I heard a familiar voice ask. I looked up and sure enough, Harry Potter was standing in front of my carriage staring at the thestral. Ron, Hermione, and Neville were standing behind him.

"Harry, what are you talking about? There's nothing there," Hermione argued.

"Don't worry," I chimed in, lowering the magazine from my face. "You aren't going mad. I can see them too. You're just as sane as I am." I gave him a smile.

"Right," Harry said, crinkling his forehead. "Mind if we join you?"

"Not at all," I answered, raising the magazine back to my face again. Harry and his friends climbed into the carriage. Neville was seated across from me and our knees bumped as he sat down. For some reason, I felt my cheeks turn red, but I managed to keep calm and smile. Neville smiled back.

"I'm Luna Lovegood," I announced to everyone in the carriage.

They all half smiled at me, besides Neville who gave me a huge, goofy grin. My stomach fluttered nervously as I smiled back. And that is how it all began.


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Thanks to anyone who's reviewd so far or added the story to their alerts or favorites. It means a lot. :)**

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><p>Once we reached the castle, I had to go my separate way from the others since I was in Ravenclaw and they were in Gryffindor. I was a little disappointed because Ginny and now Neville were the closest things I had to friends and they weren't even in my house.<p>

Professor Dumbledore stood up before the feast began to make his usual speech. He announced the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and gestured towards her, saying her name was Professor Umbridge. I wondered how I had not noticed her until now. She was wearing an outfit that completely consisted of the color pink.

As Dumbledore began to speak again, Professor Umbridge stood up and cleared her throat. It was a very horrid sound. It's hard to describe, but it was very high pitched and girly. The new Professor then proceeded to talk and talk…and talk. I zoned out. Zoning out is something I do a lot. What can I say? I'm a daydreamer. My father always encourages this because he says daydreaming is good for the brain.

I came back to reality just as Umbridge was finishing her speech. From where I was sitting, I could see Hermione Granger talking to Harry. I am a very good lip reader, so I could tell she had just said "The Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts." I knew that Ministry interference couldn't be a good thing, but at that moment, the food appeared and I was distracted. I noticed there was pudding on the table. It had always been my favorite food here at Hogwarts.

I ate until I was full and sleepy. I couldn't wait to get back to my dorm and go to bed. I made my way up the staircase and turned right to go to the Ravenclaw common room. When I got to my dorm, my bags were already brought up, so I opened my trunk to find my pajamas. I dug through my clothes, but my pajamas weren't there. I sighed. I didn't really mind too much when people took my things because they usually turned up in the end, but I really did need my pajamas.

I looked around the dorm. The only other two people in the room were Julienne Stevens and Olivia Robertson who were both unpacking. They were best friends and had been behind my missing belongings before, so I suspected it had been one of them. Or maybe even both. Either that, or the Nargles had taken my things, but I wasn't sensing any Nargles in the room at the moment.

"Excuse me," I said in my most polite voice. "Have either of you seen my pajamas?"

Olivia and Julienne stopped what they were doing, looked at each other, and then at me.

"No," they said innocently at the same time.

"I really do need them back," I said.

Julienne and Olivia looked at each other again. Olivia sighed, pulled my pajamas out from behind her pillow and tossed them to me.

"Thank you very much," I said with a small smile. I went to the bathroom to change before walking back to my bed and getting under the covers. As I was turning out the light, I heard one of the girls (I couldn't tell whether it was Olivia or Julienne) whisper "Looney."

I sighed quietly. I was used to being called that name, but I still felt awful every time someone called me that. Why was it so hard for me to make friends?

The next morning, I woke up early, earlier than most people would be getting up for classes. I had always been an early riser. I got dressed quickly to find out that my shoes were missing now as well. It looked like I'd be going barefoot today. Not that I minded. I actually quite enjoy being barefoot.

I didn't want to go to eat right away and I had a lot of extra time since I had woken up early, so I sat in the common room for a little while, staring up at the walls and ceiling which were enchanted to look like the night sky, scattered with stars.

When I did decide to finally go eat breakfast, I ran into Neville in the entrance to the great hall. He had just been leaving.

"Hi Luna," he smiled.

"Hello Neville," I grinned back at him. "Going to class?"

"Yes, I have Potions first. I'm terrible at that class." Neville looked miserable.

"It's okay Neville. I'm not that good either."

"Have you ever melted your entire cauldron or come close to setting the castle on fire?" he asked.

"Well, no…" I replied.

Neville sighed. "I guess I better get going. I don't want to be late or Professor Snape will give me detention. He's always liked me a little less since the whole boggart thing in my third year. I'll see you around though."

"Bye Neville," I called after him. I smiled as I sat down to eat my breakfast. It looked like Neville really wanted to be my friend. My stomach was fluttering and I wasn't completely sure if that was excitement from making a new friend or something more.

**Neville's POV**

"Luna's really cool, Ron," I said, pausing as I walked by the common room couch. I had just over heard Ron making a comment about Luna's radish earrings to Harry.

"I suppose she is," Ron shrugged.

I walked over to a small table in the corner where I had left my mimbulus mimbletonia earlier. It was a very rare plant and I was trying to take care of it until it was a full grown plant. As I worked on clipping off dead stems and leaves, my mind wandered to Luna. She had been really nice on the train. She liked to daydream. I could tell. I had read her father's magazine after she had given me a copy and I had to admit the stories had been kind of intriguing.

Luna was different than most people and that's what I liked about her. She wasn't afraid to be herself. I had heard of the names people called her and about people taking her things and through it all, she had never changed. The train ride had been the first time I had spoken to her and I actually found talking to her almost like a breath of fresh air.

I decided right then that I wanted to talk to her again. Other than Hermione and Ginny, I didn't really have any girl friends. I had always been a little nervous and awkward around people in general but especially girls. I felt it easy to talk to Luna, though. _She's pretty, too,_ I found myself thinking as I clipped more dead leaves off of the plant. Luna had huge, light blue eyes that were almost grey and she had long, curly blonde hair. Most people seem to find her eyes scary, but I find them mesmerizing.

Another thing about Luna is that she's mysterious. I get the feeling that there's a lot I don't know about her and I'm finding that I want to know more about her.


	3. Chapter 3

Instead of going to lunch that day, I snuck down to the kitchens. The Weasley twins think they are the only ones who can get down here and they told Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but I know how to get down here as well. They don't know that, though. My dad had found out when he was at school and had told me the secret. Apparently dad had wandered down there while trying to find some Wrackspurts.

I tickled the pear on the big portrait of fruit hanging on the wall, and it swung open. I smiled. I had always been amused at how the pear always laughed when it was tickled. As I stepped into the kitchens, a house elf rushed towards me. I knew that his name was Dobby.

"Hello, Miss Lovegood," he squeaked.

"Hello Dobby," I said with a smile. "I'm going to feed the thestrals today."

"Oh, yes, we'll bring out some leftovers right away. Would you like any food for yourself?"

"No, thank you, Dobby. I'm all set."

"Here, take an apple anyway," he said, holding one out to me in his small, long fingered hand.

"Thank you," I smiled as two other house elves hurried towards me carrying a small package of raw meat. I had been feeding the thestrals since my second year here and I had discovered that they rather liked raw meat.

I left the kitchens and made my way down to the forest. When I found the thestrals, I gently began petting them. I rolled my apple towards one and he just picked at it without much interest. I laughed as I threw the raw meat at him and he ate it right away. Just then I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around. It was Harry.

"Hello Harry Potter," I said.

"Aren't your feet cold?" Harry asked, staring at my bare feet.

I shrugged. "A little, but all of my shoes have gone missing."

"That's too bad," said Harry. He looked genuinely concerned.

"It's quite alright. They'll turn up eventually," I answered.

"Who took them?" Harry asked.

I shrugged. "Maybe the Nargles." I truthfully didn't know who took them, but I didn't want to tell Harry my suspicions about the girls in my dorm. It was safer to just go with Nargles.

"So, what are these things?" Harry nodded towards the thestrals.

"They're called thestrals. They're gentle creatures really but most people avoid them because they're a bit…"

"Different," Harry finished, nodding.

"Exactly," I finished.

"Why is it that only some people can see them?" Harry asked. "Me, you, and Neville are the only ones who can see them that I know of."

"Neville can see them?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah, he told me after the carriages brought us to the castle when we first got here.

"Oh, well, in order to see them, you have to have seen someone die," I answered, looking back at the thestrals.

Harry was nodding. I was sure he was thinking of Cedric, but I didn't say anything for a few seconds.

"So you've seen someone die?" Harry asked.

"Yes, it was my mum. She liked to experiment with spells and potions and one day one of her spells went wrong."

"I'm sorry," Harry whispered.

"It's alright. I have my father. We've gotten pretty close over the years."

"That's good then," Harry said.

"Yes," I answered. "My dad and I, we believe you, you know."

"You do?"

"Yes, we believe what you said, you know, that You-Know-Who is back and the Ministry is writing against you and Dumbledore."

"Yeah, well, that makes about five people who believe me," Harry said.

"I expect that's how You-Know-Who wants you to feel," I said, gazing at a thestral.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if I were You-Know-Who, I'd want you to feel more isolated and alone because you're less of a threat that way." I looked back at Harry and smiled a small smile. He just stared at me.

"That's a good point. I never thought of it like that."

"That's just the way I see it," I shrugged.

"Well, I have a class to get to, so I better get back to the castle. Don't you have somewhere to be?" Harry asked.

"No, I have a free period after lunch. I'm going to stay here and watch the thestrals. I find them quite interesting to watch," I answered as I walked over to a large rock and sat down.

"Okay, well, goodbye then," Harry said, waving as he began to walk away.

"Goodbye Harry Potter," I said with a smile.

I sat watching the thestrals, mesmerized by them in a way. It wasn't long before I heard footsteps. Thinking it was Harry coming back, I looked up. It wasn't Harry standing there, but Neville.

"Hi Luna," he said shyly, shuffling his feet.

"Hello Neville Longbottom," I answered, standing up. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was actually looking for you and then I ran into Harry and he said you were here…" he trailed off and stared at the closest thestral.

Questions were zooming around in my head. My mind finally settled on one and it popped out of my mouth before I could stop it. "You were looking for me? Why?"

"Well, I think it's fun talking to you. You're very interesting to have a conversation with."

"Thank you, Neville. You know, no one has ever said that to me before. You're the first one," I told him.

"Really?" he asked, as he joined me on the large rock.

"Yes," I answered.

Neville looked down at his hands before looking up again. "Not many people can see these, er…"

"Thestrals," I finished.

"Right," he answered.

"If you don't mind me asking, who did you see die?" I asked quietly.

"My grandfather," Neville answered. "What about you?"

"My mum," I told him. Then, I gave a quick explanation about what had happened to my mother and how it was just me and dad now. "I miss her so much," I finished.

"Can I tell you something, Luna?" Neville asked.

"Of course," I answered.

Neville took a deep breath. It looked like whatever he had to say was going to be difficult for him to tell someone.

"You don't have to tell me, Neville," I said, but he plowed ahead anyway.

"When I was only about a year old, my parents were tortured into insanity by a Death Eater named Bellatrix Lestrange. She performed the Cruciatus Curse on them multiple times until eventually they lost their minds from the torture. Ever since then, I was raised by my Gran and we visit my parents as often as we can. We always try to make a visit around Christmastime. Sometimes I don't see the point in it. They don't know who I am and they don't know Gran."

I reached over and took Neville's hand. He jumped a little as if he had forgotten I was there before looking down at our hands and continuing.

"Not many people understand what it's like. Some people tell me 'at least they're alive', and physically, yes, they are alive. But mentally, they aren't there at all. We can't hold a conversation with them and they can't recognize me, their own son. I hate seeing them and love seeing them at the same time. I think Gran feels the same way but she never shows it."

"That's horrible," I whispered.

"I've never told anyone that story before," Neville said. "Dumbledore knows it, but I didn't tell him, Gran did. I'm not really ready for a lot of people to know, yet-,"

"I won't say anything," I promised.

Neville smiled. "Sometimes I wonder if they'd be proud of me, my parents. I'm not as good at magic as my parents were. They were a member of the Order. They were brave. I'm not good at anything and I'm not very brave."

I smiled. "You must have been put into Gryffindor for a reason."

"I guess you're right," Neville said quietly.

"And I'm sure your parents would be very proud of you."

Neville looked up at me and smiled and I noticed he had tears in his eyes, but he blinked them away. I had to wonder why he had told me, Luna "Loony" Lovegood, of all people about his parents.

It was then that I realized we were still holding hands. I let go even though I didn't want to. Everything just seemed okay when we were together. It was nice knowing that I had someone there for me besides dad, that is. Someone who understands.

"You know, a lot of people think I'm weird," Neville said suddenly as we walked back to the castle.

"How so?" I asked.

"I don't know. I'm just not very good at magic in general and everything always seems to happen to me. In Potions, I can never seem to get them quite right and they always seem to go completely wrong. Then Professor Snape yells at me. People think of me as forgetful and even I feel out of place in Gryffindor."

"Well, like I said, you must have been put in there for a reason," I said.

"I wish I knew what that reason was," Neville replied.

"People think I'm weird too, you know. They call me Loony Lovegood. I think it's because of the fact that I believe in Crumple Horned Snorkacks, Nargles, and Wrackspurts. Lots of people don't think any of them exist."

"What are Nargles and Wrackspurts?" asked Neville. "You told me about the Snorkacks on the train but..." he trailed off.

"That's what I like about you Neville Longbottom," I said smiling. "You're interested in what I have to say. Or at least you act like it."

"I really am interested," Neville smiled. "I like hearing about these interesting creatures."

I smiled. "Well, a Nargle usually hides in mistletoe. They like to steal things. See this butterbeer cork necklace?" I held up the necklace hanging around my neck. "It keeps the Nargles away. And as for a Wrackspurt, it is an invisible creature that floats in your ears and makes your brain go fuzzy. You can only see them if you use Spectrospecks. My dad wants to print an article about Wrackspurts sometime in the future and give readers a free pair of Spectrospecks. I can get you a copy if you want."

"Sure," Neville said. "That would be cool. And for the record…"

I looked up at him.

"I don't think you're weird at all."

"Why thank you, Neville. I don't think you're weird either."

He smiled at me and I smiled back. After that day, I found myself liking Neville Longbottom quite a lot.


	4. Chapter 4

For the next few days, I couldn't stop thinking about Neville. Why had he told me about his parents? What did he see in me that made him talk about it? Perhaps he had also seen the similarities between us. We both had been raised by a single guardian and had both lost a parent, well in his case, both parents. We were both considered outsiders by the majority of the Hogwarts population, especially the Slytherins.

All thoughts of Neville were pushed aside, however, by my first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. I had heard whispers in the hallways and in the common room about the new teacher, Professor Umbridge and they hadn't been good whispers. I had heard that she had already given Harry a week's worth of detention for trying to tell the truth about You-Know-Who.

I took a seat in the second row and sat quietly. Professor Umbridge wasn't in the room yet and the class was talking loudly as everyone got settled. I looked around. The Ravenclaws and Gryffindors had this class together, I noticed. Nobody was paying me any attention. I was used to it by now, but I still sometimes wished that people would talk to me because they wanted to, and not to call me Loony or ask rudely if I've found a Crumple Horned Snorkack lately. Really, they have no sense. I mean, I can't go looking for Snorkacks during the school year.

"Ahem," said a quiet voice from the back as Ginny slid into the only available seat next to me.

"Hi," she whispered.

"Hi," I said back.

"There will be no talking," Umbridge said in a fake happy voice. "Welcome to your first Defense Against the Dark Arts class of this year. I'm very happy to meet you all. Now, I see that you all have your wands out-,"

"Are we learning spells today?" one boy in the back asked.

Umbridge laughed. I was beginning to really hate that sound and I was the kind of person who didn't feel hate towards anything. I believe hate to be a really strong word. There are things I strongly dislike, but I've never found myself to hate anyone or anything. That is, until Umbridge came along.

"No, no," Umbridge said, shaking her head and patrolling up and down the rows. "We will not be learning any spells in this class."

"At all?" Ginny asked.

"That is correct," Umbridge said. "None at all."

"Why?" someone else asked.

"I request students to raise their hands when they wish to speak or ask a question," Umbridge chirped. "And we will not be learning spells because there is simply no need to."

"Well, won't we need to learn spells and practice them so that we can use them?" Ginny asked.

"Hand, Miss…?" Umbridge asked.

"Weasley," Ginny answered bravely.

"Miss Weasley," Umbridge smiled. "We don't need to learn, practice or use defensive spells. Why on earth would you think that we would?"

"I believe you've already been told why," Ginny said. I flicked my eyes nervously between her and the teacher. I could sense the tension and while I sometimes envied Ginny's bravery and ability to speak her mind freely, I didn't think now was the best time to do it.

Umbridge stared at Ginny, her expression unreadable. Then, she laughed. "What Harry Potter has been spewing about a certain dark wizard is a total lie."

Ginny crossed her arms. "Well, I believe him."

"Well, if you want to believe in lies, Miss Weasley, then I certainly can't stop you," Umbridge said. "However, I can tell you that the Ministry is assured that You-Know-Who is not back and the wizarding world is in no danger."

I sighed. Was she really that out of it? For that matter, was the whole _Ministry_ really that out of it? Even I had noticed the signs of You-Know-Who's return and I'm known for spacing out and not paying attention.

Ginny managed to hold her tongue for the rest of class. It's a good thing she did, too, because I got the feeling that she was about an inch from receiving a heap of detentions. However, the rest of class was nowhere near as exciting as the beginning of class. We had to read and copy from a "Ministry approved textbook."

"That was awful," Ginny groaned as we walked to lunch together. "My hand is going to fall off." She dangled her hand limply in front of my face.

"I actually found it to be relaxing," I said. "You know, the silence and just copying from the book, not having to listen to teachers droning. Although the book was quite boring."

"I wouldn't have been able to tolerate any droning from that woman," Ginny said.

"Oh, I noticed," I said. "You were very upset."

"Because I know Harry isn't lying."

"I know it too. I told him so. I told Harry that my father and I believe him."

"Good," Ginny said, smiling. We had reached the great hall and she waved at me as she went to join her friends at the Gryffindor table.

I sat down at the Ravenclaw table and I found myself sneaking glances at the Gryffindor table, but more specifically, Neville Longbottom. I had been paying more attention to him then I had to anyone before and it kind of scared me a little. I got the impression that there was more to him than met the eye. I was rather drawn to him for some odd reason.

I tried to convince myself that the strange fluttering feeling in my stomach, the way my head felt fuzzy, and the way my cheeks felt warm when I was around him were all due to curiosity and confusion, or perhaps even Wrackspurts, but I was actually doubting that was the case. While Wrackspurts did make the brain go fuzzy, they had no effect on the stomach or cheeks.

I finished eating and started to walk out of the great hall. I saw Neville catch up to me out of the corner of my eye.

"Hey Luna," he said.

"Hello Neville," I answered, smiling at him. The fluttery feeling was back in my stomach. Maybe it was a Flutter Bug, a moth-like creature that landed on food and camouflaged itself to blend in with the food. People didn't see the creature, so they swallowed it and the Flutter Bug would flutter around their stomach, looking for a way out.

"Luna?" Neville asked. I realized that I had been staring past him dreamily.

"Oh, I'm sorry Neville," I said. "What were you saying?"

"I was asking you how your classes were going so far."

"Oh, they're going wonderfully. All except Defense Against the Dark Arts, though. I'm not too fond of that Umbridge woman."

"Neither am I," Neville said. "I take it you heard about Harry."

"Yes, I did. It was quite brave of him to stand up to her."

"It was," Neville nodded. "I wish I were brave enough to stand up to her like that."

"But didn't she give Harry a week's worth of detention?" I asked.

"Yeah, but, what, he'll probably have to just write lines or clean something for her." Neville shrugged. "That's nothing for him."

"Well, this is my class," I said, pointing towards the door to Professor Flitwick's room. I smiled at Neville again and he just stared at me with an odd expression, like he hated that we had to stop talking.

"Oh, okay, well I'll see you later, then."

"Okay, Neville," I said, before turning and walking into the classroom.

Ginny stomped into Umbridge's class the next day and sat next to me with a huff. Umbridge was writing on the board with her back to the class and Ginny was staring daggers into the woman's back. I believe that if looks could kill, Umbridge would have fallen to the floor right then and there.

"What's wrong, Ginny?" I asked.

"Her," Ginny whispered.

"Class hasn't even started yet."

"No, it's about what she made Harry do in detention."

"Neville said she would probably make him clean or write lines," I said, looking at Ginny with a vague smile. "He said that was nothing for Harry."

"He was right," Ginny said. "Writing lines is nothing. That is what she made him do, by the way."

"See? That's not so bad. Why are you so angry, then?"

"Because," Ginny whispered, "he had to use a magical quill that wrote in his own blood."

I stared at her blankly. "I don't-,"

"She had him write 'I must not tell lies,' and the words appeared on the paper in his own blood as well as in the back of his hand in the form of a cut."

"Oh my, that's terrible," I gasped.

Ginny nodded. "She's evil."

"Yes, I quite agree," I answered.

Umbridge began class just then and Ginny and I didn't get another opportunity to talk. I made sure to keep my mouth shut, an easy task considering I'm normally quiet. Ginny, however, looked ready to tackle Umbridge every time she walked past us as she patrolled the rows of desks to survey our work.

The weather grew slightly colder as the rest of September dragged by. My days were pretty much always the same, except for the increasingly frequent times that I spent talking to Neville. He always walked me to class and looked disappointed when we reached our destination.

"Neville, I'm going to feed the thestrals during lunch today. Would you like to come?" I asked, pausing in front of the Transfiguration classroom on one afternoon mid-October.

Neville looked up. "Oh, yes, I'd like that," he said.

"Meet me at the entrance to the kitchens after class," I smiled.

"The kitchens-?" Neville asked. He didn't know where they were.

I gave him directions and hurried into my class. Usually I fed the thestrals alone because I never knew anyone else who could see them. Even though Neville could see them, I expected him to be weary of the fact that I went to feed them quite often. Lots of people were afraid of the harmless creatures, but not Neville. He was quite brave, I realized, even if he didn't see it himself.

After class, I waited outside the fruit portrait that led to the kitchens. Neville came running into view a few minutes later. He skidded to a stop in front of me, panting.

"Did you run all the way here?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.

"Why? I didn't mind waiting. In fact, I was just examining the portrait, here. You see, there is a creature that my dad told me about that hides in paint. I was trying to look for them."

"Did you find any?" Neville asked.

"No," I shook my head sadly. "Maybe it's because this is a very old painting."

"Maybe," Neville agreed. "So, how do we get in?"

"Like this." I reached up and tickled the pear in the portrait. It giggled and the portrait swung open.

"Miss Luna!" Dobby squeaked, rushing up to me. "Dobby is so glad to see you!"

"I'm glad to see you, too, Dobby!" I said, smiling at the elf. "This is my friend, Neville Longbottom."

"Ah, hello, Neville Longbottom!" Dobby said, bowing. "You is lucky to have a friend like Miss Luna."

"I know I am," Neville grinned at me before looking away quickly as his cheeks turned pink. That was exactly what happened to me! There must be some mysterious creature flying around the school. I have to remember to ask dad about what it could be.

"How can Dobby help you today?" Dobby asked, bowing again.

"I'm feeding the thestrals today," I answered.

"Of course!" Dobby said. At once, another house elf hurried over with some food.

"Thank you," I said, taking it.

"You are very welcome," Dobby answered. "Come back anytime, Miss Luna, and you too, Mr. Neville." Dobby waved at us as we left the kitchens.

"So, Miss Luna," Neville grinned. I blushed. Darn those stupid creatures, whatever they were. "How often do you feed the thestrals?"

"I usually try to come once a week," I managed to answer as we left through the oak front doors and walked towards the forest.

"Wow, that's commitment," Neville whistled.

"It's fun," I shrugged. "Not many people can see them, so it's like this little secret that only a few people know about, and they're such gentle creatures. Nothing to be afraid of."

"I'm not afraid of them," Neville said, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"I know you aren't, but some people are. Even people who can't see them, because of the whole death concept."

We reached the clearing where the thestrals were, and one of them immediately walked over to us and sniffed the package of food in my hand.

"Can I feed one?" Neville asked.

"Of course. Why do you think I asked you to come with me?" I asked.

Neville shrugged. I laughed and turned back to the food, which the thestral was trying to rip open. "Calm down," I whispered to the horse like creature.

I handed some food to Neville and took some in my own hand. A few more thestrals surrounded us, gently eating from our hands.

Neville laughed. "I feel like we should be in one of those Muggle princess tales. You know, with the animals surrounding them."

I smiled. "I don't think thestrals are typical princess tale animals. I never saw myself as a princess anyway."

"Why not?" Neville glanced at me.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not princess material."

"Maybe you are and all of the stereotypical princess are the ones who aren't princess material."

"But they have stories written about them," I argued, patting a thestral on the nose.

"So? That doesn't mean anything," Neville said, sitting on the ground and leaning against a tree.

"That is very kind of you, Neville," I told him as I continued to feed the thestrals.

Once we had gone through all of the food, we headed back up to the school. At the entrance, we headed towards the great hall, since lunch hadn't ended yet, but we were stopped by a bothersome woman dressed all in pink. A woman that I didn't want to see.

"Where have you been?" she chirped.

"Outside," Neville answered. "Taking a walk."

"I see. You'd rather take a walk than eat lunch? I expect that you would be hungry," Umbridge said.

"Well-," I began, but she interrupted me. Apparently her question had been rhetorical.

"What was in that package you are holding, Miss Lovegood?"

"Oh, this?" I held it up. I had forgotten that I was holding it. "Food was in here."

"We took it outside with us," Neville said. "That's why we aren't in the great hall eating. We took it outside."

"So you snuck this food out of the school and also left the school during a time when you were scheduled to be indoors," Umbridge said.

I sighed. It might have been better to tell her about the thestrals. Apparently our lie wasn't much better than the truth. She was still finding a way to twist it into sounding like we broke the law.

"Well, we didn't know it was illegal to take a walk during lunchtime," Neville said, looking angry. I stared at him. I thought he was afraid of her and afraid to stand up to her. Maybe he had been possessed by an Alternate Spirit, a spirit that makes you act in ways opposite how you normally act. Or maybe he was just a lot braver than he thought.

"According to Educational Decree number 22, Mr. Longbottom, all students must remain in the castle unless it is break time. Meals do not count. I am going to have to give you both a detention. Tonight in my office."

"After dinner?" I asked, assuming the time.

"No, I think during dinner should be fine, since you already ate a very nice lunch," Umbridge grinned evilly and I now understood fully why Ginny always looked ready to slap her.

"Lovely," Neville sighed sarcastically as Umbridge walked away.

I took his hand and squeezed it. "Don't worry, Neville, it'll all be okay."

"Nothing's okay with her around," Neville answered, frowning and shaking his head.

I actually had to agree with him. For once, I didn't actually believe my own words. For once, I didn't think everything would be okay. This "toad," to use Ginny's word, was taking over the school, slowly but surely, and she had to be stopped.

On the bright side, however, her job was supposed to be cursed. With a bit of luck, she'd be gone by June.

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><p><strong>Don't forget to review and let me know what you think! <strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for all of the reviews so far! I really appreciate them. If anyone has any suggestions about something they want to happen, I'm open to those too. I love hearing from everyone. :)**

**I don't own Harry Potter. **

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><p>Lunch ended when Neville and I were still standing in the entrance. We stood there as the students swarmed past us on their way to their next class.<p>

"Well, I guess we won't be eating until tomorrow morning," I sighed. "I was rather looking forward to the pudding."

"I have an idea," Neville said suddenly.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Our detention with Umbridge is at six tonight, right?"

"Yes," I answered.

"Will you meet me here at five?" He asked.

"Yes, but why?"

"You'll see," he answered. "Remember, five o'clock." He backed away from me, grinning.

"Five o'clock," I repeated, a smile lighting up my face.

I began to walk back to the Ravenclaw dormitory. On the way, I ran into Hermione and Ginny, who were both looking quite excited about something.

"Luna!" Ginny exclaimed. "I'm glad we ran into you!"

"Hello Ginny, hello Hermione," I said.

"Hello," Hermione answered with a smile.

"So, Luna, you agree that the toad isn't teaching us properly, right?" Ginny asked, her eyes shining with excitement.

"Yes, I agree. I'm not fond of her at all. Or her detention methods."

"So, would you be willing to join our secret society?" Ginny asked.

"What kind of secret society?" I asked.

"Harry's teaching it," Hermione told me. "He's going to teach anyone who signs up how to defend themselves against You-Know-Who. He's going to teach us the things that Umbridge should be teaching us. Of course, Umbridge doesn't know about it, and she can't find out."

"That does sound very interesting," I answered thoughtfully, smiling. "I would very much like to join."

"Wonderful!" Ginny exclaimed. "Neville's coming, too," she added with a smirk.

"Oh, how lovely," I said, "but why are you smirking like that?"

"Oh, no reason," Ginny said, her eyes wide as she played dumb. There was a reason and I thought I knew what it was. Ginny was eerily good at figuring people out, especially when it came to relationships. But I still wasn't even sure that I liked Neville, so how could Ginny suspect something. Maybe there was another reason for her smirk.

"We're going to meet in the Hog's Head this Saturday during the Hogsmeade trip," Hermione said. "One o'clock."

"I'll be there," I answered.

"With Neville," Ginny added.

"Oh, Ginny, be quiet," Hermione sighed.

"What do you mean, Ginny?" I asked.

"I can see you and Neville glancing at each other during meals," Ginny said. "The funny thing is that you never look at each other at the same time. It's like you're taking turns to look at each other so you never see each other looking."

"Why would Neville look at me?" I asked, completely dodging the accusation of me looking at him.

"Maybe he likes you," Ginny said, looking at me with a 'duh' expression on her face.

"Neville and I are friends," I said.

"For now," Ginny said, crossing her arms. "Tell me, Luna, do you know the symptoms of having a crush on a boy? You must have had a crush on at least one boy before."

"Well, maybe exactly one boy. Only one." I counted in my head to check. Yes, just one boy.

"Okay, and did your stomach feel fluttery?" Ginny asked.

"Yes," I nodded, "but that might have been due to-,"

"Did your cheeks get red? Were you always happy to see him?"

"Yes, but I thought it was-,"

Ginny interrupted me again. "Now, when you're with Neville do you feel those same feelings?"

"Yes," I said. "The answer came out quickly because I knew it was true.

"There you go," Ginny beamed. "You have a crush on Neville."

"I was thinking it could be Wrackspurts, or maybe some unidentified creature," I finally managed to get out.

"Yeah, if that unidentified creature was a crush," Ginny answered, raising her eyebrows.

"Well, maybe," I said, my cheeks growing red.

Ginny smirked at me. That girl was scary sometimes.

"Well," I said, "I better get going. I have to meet Neville in a few hours before our detention."

"You have detention?" Hermione asked.

"You're meeting with Neville?" Ginny asked at the same time. Her eyes lit up like two chandeliers. She was more excited about me liking Neville then I was it seemed.

"Yes, with Neville," I answered, walking away.

"How did you both get a detention from her?" Hermione asked.

"We were out feeding the thestrals during lunch and she caught us coming back inside."

"You took him to feed the thestrals? Isn't that something you always did alone?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, but only because usually nobody ever wanted to come with me. I never minded, but-,"

"Oh, this is so exciting," Ginny squealed.

"Ginny, you won't interfere or anything, will you?" I asked. "If something is meant to happen, I'd like it to happen on its own. It's better luck that way." That's what my father had always said.

Ginny hesitated, but Hermione nudged her with her elbow. "Oh, fine, I won't interfere," she mumbled.

"Thank you and I'll see you Saturday! Bye!" I waved cheerily and continued down the hallway.

"Wait, so you're admitting it's true that you like him?" Ginny yelled after me.

I turned around and smiled. "Why should I admit something that you already seem to have figured out on your own?"

"So you do!" she yelled as I continued walking.

"Oh, that's enough," Hermione sighed. I laughed as I reached the common room and sat on the couch, playing with the ends of my long blonde hair.

Ginny's words had got me thinking; thinking that she was right. Heck, she's always right when it comes to situations like this. Alright, I'm officially admitting it. You can write it down in case you want to quote me later. I like Neville Longbottom. I like that he listens to my stories about Nargles and Crumple Horned Snorkacks. I like that he's not afraid of the thestrals. Most of all, I like that he trusted me enough with the secret about his parents. It was like something a friend would do. But now there was one problem. Did I want Neville Longbottom to be just a friend?

Having him as a friend was better than not having him as anything at all, and plus, I'd never had a boyfriend before. I was completely new to the whole thing. No, that didn't matter, I decided. If I liked Neville, and he liked me, and he asked me right now to be his girlfriend, what would I say? What did I want to say?

"Yes," I whispered to myself, gazing up at the ceiling with a small smile on my face.

It was then I noticed a third year boy sitting on the other side of the room, reading a book. He was staring at me funny. He must have heard me say 'yes' out loud. Oh, well, the Wrackspurts will get him one day.

At five o'clock that evening, I was sitting on the bottom step of the entrance hall staircase waiting for Neville to arrive. I hadn't been waiting for very long when Neville appeared from a hallway to my right. He was carrying a paper bag.

"Come this way," he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me up the stairs.

"Where are we going, Neville?" The fluttering was back in my stomach, only this time I wasn't blaming it on an unidentified creature. This time I knew better.

"Hold on, we're almost there." He led me all the way to the Owlery.

"Are you sending that package to somebody?" I asked.

"No," Neville said. "This is for us." He cleared a spot on the ground with his shoe so that it was clear of straw and bird droppings. Then, he turned to face me and opened the bag.

I looked inside and saw food. It wasn't much, just a couple of chicken legs, apples, two bottles of butterbeer and pudding, but it was food.

"Where did you get this?"

"I snuck into the kitchens again," Neville answered. "Since we're going to miss dinner and we missed lunch too, I decided I'd sneak down and get us something to eat before detention. Umbridge will never know. That's why I took us up here. She never sets foot up here. Hates animals, that woman. It's not the cleanest place to eat, but-,"

I stepped forward and hugged him. "It's lovely," I whispered.

"Er, right, it was—yeah, let's sit down," Neville stammered, his cheeks turning red. Had I made him nervous?

I sat down on the spot he had cleared and he sat across from me. Our knees were touching. Neville divided the food evenly and handed me half.

"Pudding," I said, as I took it.

"Yeah, I remembered you saying on the first night that you hoped there was pudding at the feast. When we were in the carriages, remember?"

"I remember," I answered, smiling.

"You know, I actually like going behind Umbridge's back," Neville said after a moment, spinning his apple in his hands.

"It is a very nice feeling. As if we're smarter than she is."

"Exactly. She thinks we don't get to eat, but we outsmarted her," Neville held up his apple.

"Hermione and Ginny told me about the secret society they formed with Harry as teacher," I tilted my head and looked out the window at the setting sun. "I'm joining."

"I am too," Neville said excitedly.

"I know," I nodded. "Ginny and Hermione told me. Joining is going to feel like this, but multiplied by ten."

Neville nodded. "I'm glad we're doing something. Looking at the big picture, it's like this is going to help us defeat _him_ because we're learning to properly defend ourselves against him. If it wasn't for him and his last reign of power, my parents would be completely sane and sitting at home drinking tea or something right now."

"Fighting him and defeating him will guarantee that he never does that to anyone else," I added, nodding.

Neville nodded again, taking a bite of his apple. "Exactly. My parents were part of the Order of the Phoenix. They lived to fight him. They went insane still fighting. I want to make sure that wasn't in vain and I want to make sure nobody else has to suffer what they did, or what I still am suffering."

"We'll all be helping, Neville. I will be, and everyone else who's joining. Everyone who wants to fight He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

"Thanks, Luna," he said, picking up his butterbeer.

At twenty minutes to six, we stood up, dusted ourselves off, threw out our trash, and headed for Umbridge's office together.

"Ready to face the toad?" he asked, smiling down at me as he held his hand out, ready to knock.

"Ribbit," I said calmly. I looked up at him, smiling that usual half smile of mine that other people described as 'dreamy.'

Neville burst into laughter and had to compose himself before knocking on the door.

"Come in," said a soft voice.

"She means ribbit, ribbit," Neville whispered.

I nodded and smiled as Neville pushed open the door and gestured for me to enter first. I stopped just inside the door and looked around. Neville stopped beside me and I practically heard his jaw drop. The room was almost entirely pink. I almost didn't even notice Umbridge sitting at her desk. That's how well she blended in with the walls.

"Please, have a seat," she said, smiling her stiff looking smile.

Neville and I sat at opposite ends of her desk, facing each other, while she sat behind her desk, which was a dark brown wood. Surprisingly, it wasn't pink, but it did have many pink accessories on it, such as a pink teacup that Umbridge had most likely just been drinking from.

"You will be writing lines tonight," she said sweetly.

"What are we writing?" Neville asked.

"You must write 'I must not sneak out' and you will continue writing until this lesson has properly sunk in." She gave a girly giggle. "You will not need any ink. Please begin."

I looked at Neville, who was now looking nervous. There was no way out of this. We were going to have to write with our own blood. It was better to just get it over with. The sooner we started, the sooner we could leave.

I took a deep breath and began writing. I wasn't sure if I should write fast, to be done quicker, or take it slow to ease the pain that was to come. I decided to just write normally and change speed if necessary.

'I must not sneak out.' I wrote it over and over. When it was phrased like this, it sounded like a crime. It had never been considered sneaking out, or even a punishable act before Umbridge had arrived at Hogwarts. Lunchtimes were always left free for the students to do whatever they wished. Obviously, most people chose to eat, but Hermione for one, spent many lunches in the library. It was usually when she was studying for exams or in a fight with Ron, which were both events that seemed to happen quite frequently. Lots of people would go outside and sit by the lake, too. Umbridge didn't know what she was talking about.

My hand was stinging, but I tried to ignore it. Soon, it would all be over. Every second that passed was one second closer to the end of the night. _Just think positive, look on the bright side_ I told myself. Daddy says that everything has a bright side if you look hard enough.

I heard a crunching noise. Looking up, I saw that Umbridge had just taken a huge bite of an apple and she was chewing it loudly, staring between Neville and I with a silly smile on her face. I wondered if that was the way she always chewed or if she was doing that on purpose. Maybe it was a little of both.

Neville and I glanced at each other and tried not to laugh. We knew that we weren't hungry, but Umbridge thought we were starving. Naturally, holding in laughter only makes you want to laugh harder, so I was ready to burst, but I contained myself. It probably wouldn't be a good idea for Umbridge to see us looking even a little bit happy. She might keep us here longer.

Finally, after four excruciating hours, Umbridge let us leave. Neville walked me back to the Ravenclaw common room. "Hermione says that a little essence of murtlap will help this," Neville picked up my hand gingerly.

"I'll have to try that," I said quietly.

"It's not fair!" Neville burst out.

"What's not fair?" I asked.

"That this had to happen to you just because you like to do something good and feed those harmless creatures."

"This isn't going to stop me, Neville," I said with a small laugh. "I've been visiting the thestrals for a long time. It's almost a form of therapy and relaxation. Something as silly as this isn't going to stop me from going."

"That's what I like to hear," Neville smiled. "When people stand up to the bullies in the world, it gives the other people hope. I notice it when Harry does it and I'm noticing it now. You're not letting Umbridge get to you."

"Why should I?" I asked. "She's about the height of a dwarf."

Neville chuckled. "I'm glad I met you Luna."

My stomach flipped. "I'm glad I met you too, Neville."

Neville hesitated for a moment and I just stood there staring at him. Then, he quickly leaned in and kissed my cheek. It was so quick, I barely felt it, but at the same time, the spot that his lips had touched felt as if it were buzzing.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"Don't be sorry, Neville," I said with a smile. I squeezed his uninjured hand. "You did nothing that needs an apology."

With that, I turned and entered the dormitory, waving as I shut the door behind me.


	6. Chapter 6

**I know that I don't update this story as often as my other one, but I really like writing this story. It's a lot of fun! **

**Sadly, I don't own Harry Potter. **

**Don't forget to leave a review!**

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><p>The whole time that I was getting ready for bed, I kept thinking about Neville kissing my cheek. I don't know why it was the only thought filling my mind. Actually, I do know. We established the reason already.<p>

I don't usually dwell on things too much. I'm not the type of person who lets one thing get them nervous or worked up. I don't obsess over things. But now I was. I was obsessing over a kiss on the cheek from a boy that I had been going to school with for the past four years and only officially met a few months ago.

What did the kiss mean? Was it a friendly kiss or did it mean he wanted more but was too shy to act on it? What was I doing? Boys were nothing to stress over. I had bigger things to worry about. Like schoolwork and the secret club against Umbridge. I was excited about it, of course, but like Hermione said, we can't get caught. If we did, I imagine Umbridge would do something extreme to punish us all.

On Saturday morning, I woke up early. It was too early to even go to breakfast, never mind Hogsmeade, so I made a quick decision and headed down to the kitchens. I was going to feed the thestrals. I doubted Umbridge was even up yet. I got the impression that she liked to sleep as late as possible. Anyway, even if she was up, I don't think she would wander around the school.

I didn't spend a lot of time with the thestrals that morning. I didn't want to risk getting caught again. I didn't have anyone with me this time, so if I ended up with another detention, I would have to go on my own, which wouldn't be as fun as going with a friend, I'm sorry to say.

After breakfast, the students going to Hogsmeade headed out the front doors. It was a mob scene. I managed to find Ginny in the crowd of people, though.

"Hi Luna, ready for this afternoon?" she asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Oh yes, I'm rather excited," I said, smiling.

Just then, Michael Corner, a boy in my house, caught up to us and took Ginny's hand. I had forgotten that they were dating now. I had hoped to maybe spend the time in Hogsmeade until the meeting with Ginny, but it didn't seem all that fun anymore now that I would be the third wheel.

"Do you want to come to Zonko's with us?" Ginny asked. Michael began to protest, but she elbowed him.

"No, it's alright—," I began.

"No, I insist," Ginny answered. "You can bring Neville along, too!"

"I don't see him anywhere," I replied. She would not give up on the whole Neville thing.

"He's right here," she turned and latched onto Neville's arm, seeming to pull him out of nowhere.

"Oh," I blushed. "Hi Neville."

"Hi Luna," he answered. His cheeks were also rather pink. "Are you going into Hogsmeade?"

"Yes," I answered, smiling.

"Yes, that's what this line is for," Ginny giggled.

"Oh, right," Neville blushed.

"It's okay Neville," I said. He smiled. I like it when he smiles.

We finally got outside of the castle and headed for Hogsmeade. Zonko's to be specific. I had actually never been inside before, but I had always wanted to.

The inside of Zonko's was chaos. It was crowded and also noisy due to customers testing out products. I blinked a few times. It took a little while to get used to the noise and chaos. Ginny and Michael made their way down an aisle, but I had no idea where to go first.

"Let's go this way," Neville took my hand and led me to the first aisle that contained joke school supplies, like quills that wouldn't write no matter how many times you dipped them in the ink, quills that wrote backwards, that sort of thing.

He didn't drop my hand once we got there and we slowly made our way up and down the aisles, just looking at the items.

"What's your favorite Zonko's product?" Neville asked.

"I'm not sure," I said, picking up a rubber chicken that was lying on the floor with my free hand. I examined it before putting it back on the shelf. "I've never been in here before."

"Never?" Neville asked.

"Nope," I shook my head.

"Fred and George would go into shock if they ever heard you say that," Neville said with a small smile.

"Thankfully, they aren't around, though," I smiled, checking over my shoulder with a quick glance.

"Unless they're using one of their Extendable Ears," Neville answered.

"What are Extendable Ears? They sound quite interesting."

"Some new invention of Fred and George's. They are interesting, actually."

"Yes, I heard they want to open a joke shop," I nodded as we continued walking down the long aisles stacked tall with merchandise. "I think they'll do a wonderful job. They have all the good traits for running a business."

"What do you want to do when we get out of school?" Neville asked, tilting his head and looking at me.

"I don't know. I want to do something with animals. What about you?"

"I don't know," Neville's shoulders slumped. "I'm not very good at anything, like you're good with animals or Fred and George are good at pranking and being businessmen." He waved his hand in the air.

"Aren't you good at Herbology?" I asked.

"Yes, but—how did you know?"

"I've heard a few people in my house talking about it last year," I said. What I didn't say was that they had been saying how shocked they were that Neville was actually good at something. It had been very rude of them. Neville was ten times the wizards they were.

"Oh," Neville blushed.

"You could become a herbologist, or a Herbology professor."

"A professor?" Neville repeated, looking up and tilting his head again. That idea certainly seemed to interest him.

"Yes," I said. "Professor Sprout won't be here forever, unfortunately."

"I kind of like that idea," Neville said, smiling. "Thanks, Luna."

"It was no trouble at all, Neville," I answered.

He raised his hand as if he were going to brush my cheek, but then he hesitated and pulled his hand away, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. I found myself being disappointed. We were still holding hands though, something I realized with a small flutter in my stomach.

"Let's go find Ginny and Michael, shall we?" I asked.

"Yeah," Neville mumbled.

We found Ginny and Michael at the cash register. Ginny was buying two of the quills that wrote backwards.

"I'm going to switch them with Fred and George's real quills and see how they like having a prank pulled on them for once," she smirked.

"I wish I could see their faces," Neville laughed.

"Do you think they'll realize what the quills do before they even get to use them?" I asked, smiling slightly.

"Why would they?" Ginny asked. "The quills look exactly like regular quills."

"I don't know," I shrugged. "They come in here a lot and they're experts at this stuff."

"True," Ginny looked down at the quills. Then, she looked up and grinned. "I'm going to do it anyway. I just hope they use them in the common room rather than in class so I can witness their reactions."

"Why don't you just switch the quills while they're in the common room working on something? That way, it's almost guaranteed that they'll use them then," I suggested.

Ginny blinked. "That's a good idea! Why didn't I think of that? Good thinking, Luna!"

I smiled again and we left the shop. We had just enough time to go to Honeydukes quickly before heading over to the Hog's Head.

"What's your favorite candy?" Neville asked, smiling. We were no longer holding hands, but we had been wandering around the colorful, delicious smelling store for the past few minutes.

"I like Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans," I answered. "I like how you never know what you're going to get. It's a surprise every time you eat one."

"What's your favorite bean then?" Neville asked. "Grass? Liver? Dirt?" He smirked as he listed some of the worst tasting flavors.

"Actually, my favorite is the banana one. It's yellow. Yellow is a good color."

"Is that the only reason you like it?" Neville asked, a smile lifting up the corner of his mouth.

"No, I think it tastes good too," I answered. "What's your favorite?"

"Cookie dough," Neville answered at once. "I love cookie dough."

"As long as it's not the vomit flavored one," I said with a smile. "And I love cookie dough too."

Neville smiled and picked up a box of the every flavored beans. "I'll buy it and we can share," he said.

"Oh, you don't have to do that, Neville," I said, blushing.

"I want to." Neville fished the money out of his pocket and made his way to the counter. I followed behind him, smiling.

"Thank you, Neville," I said as he poured some beans into my hand as we waited outside for Ginny and Michael. I shuffled through them and smiled as I found a banana one. I didn't eat it, though. Instead, I pushed it to one side of my hand and picked up a grey one that I suspected was pepper. "I always save the best ones for last and eat the disgusting ones first," I said.

Neville smiled and picked through the beans until he found a brownish-yellow looking one. "On three?" he asked.

I nodded. "One."

"Two," he said.

"Three," we said together. I popped the bean in my mouth and chewed it. It was definitely pepper flavored.

"Pepper?" Neville asked, noticing my expression.

I nodded. "What was yours?"

"Earwax," Neville answered with a smile. "I actually like the pepper one better."

"I like the earwax one better," I said, giggling.

"Why?" Neville asked.

"Well," I said slowly, "It's something different from the normal chocolate and strawberry and plus it's gross without being completely disgusting, if you know what I mean."

"You have the most interesting answers to everything," Neville said.

"Is that good or bad?"

"It's good," Neville said. "You see things from a different perspective than a lot of people. I mean, a lot of people hate the earwax every flavor bean because it's different, but you like it because it's different."

"Exactly," I nodded.

Neville looked at me for a moment and he opened his mouth to speak, but then he shut it, shook his head, and looked away. "What's taking Ginny and Michael so long? We have to be at the Hog's Head soon."

I pressed my face against the candy store's window to look inside for a glimpse of our friends. "They're paying for candy," I reported, turning around.

"If they don't hurry up, we're going to be late," Neville hopped from one foot to the other.

"We have plenty of time, Neville," I said. "We don't have to be there until one, and it's only 12:40. It only takes about five minutes to walk there."

"I know, but I'm just anxious," Neville answered. "Did you know that Harry can produce a Patronus Charm?"

"Can he really?" I asked. "Isn't that very advanced magic?"

"It is," Neville nodded.

"Who did you hear that from?"

"Ginny told after she heard Harry telling Ron and Hermione about it."

"What did I hear Ron and Hermione talking about?" Ginny had just come out of Honeydukes. Michael was standing behind her, already eating one of the chocolate frogs he had bought.

"Harry's Patronus," Neville answered.

"Oh, yeah," Ginny nodded. "I heard it's a stag."

We walked over to the Hog's Head and pushed open the door. It was a rather dirty, dusty place. Not many people go there. I guess that's why Hermione chose it.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting at a table at the back of the room. Fred, George, and Lee Jordan were there as well, all carrying bags full of Zonko's supplies. I caught Ginny's eye and tried to fight a giggle as I remembered her plan to prank them.

We joined them and waited as other people began to enter the Hog's Head. I recognized Cho Chang from my house come in through the door. She was a few years older than I was but she had always been friendly to me. She had a friend with her that I vaguely recognized.

"Hi Harry," Cho said. "I brought my friend Marietta with me. I hope you don't mind."

"No," Harry said slowly. I tilted my head. Harry's cheeks were growing very pink and he looked nervous. I wondered briefly about the unidentified creature, but then I remembered the talk I had with Ginny. Did Harry like Cho?

"How many people did you invite, Hermione?" I heard Harry whisper as the room filled with even more people. The barman looked shocked and confused.

"Just a few," she said calmly.

"This," Harry jerked his head toward the group, "isn't a few."

"Well then," Hermione said loudly, to avoid answering Harry, I suspect. She stood up and cleared her throat. The room fell silent. "You all know why we're here. We need a teacher. A proper teacher. Harry has agreed to teach us the things that we aren't learning from Umbridge. Things that we need to learn so that we can defend ourselves."

"Why?" a boy that I think was in Hufflepuff asked.

"Because You-Know-Who's back," Ron answered, glaring at the boy. "What's your name anyway?"

"Zacharias Smith," he answered. "And we're supposed to believe anything Potter says about You-Know-Who and-,"

"Dumbledore says so, too," Hermione interrupted.

"Dumbledore says because he says," Zacharias said, pointing at Harry.

"Hermione, they all think I'm a joke. Let's just call it off," Harry mumbled.

"No, Harry," Hermione said forcefully.

Harry stood up and looked around the group of people. I gave him a small smile when his eyes met mine and I saw a return smile flicker over his face. "I'm not going to talk about Cedric Diggory so if that's what you came here for then you can leave now." He waited and nobody made a move.

"I think Harry would make a good teacher," Hermione said, "because he's actually been there. He knows what it's like to be out there fighting. Fighting _him._"

"Is it true you can produce a Patronus?" I asked, trying to get more people to realize what Harry's really done; what Harry can really do.

"Yeah," Harry nodded.

"Really, Harry?" Dean Thomas asked. "I didn't know you could do that."

"Yeah," Harry nodded again.

"And he killed the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets with the sword in Dumbledore's office!" Neville said, following my lead. I smiled at him and he smiled back.

"And third year he fought off about a thousand dementors," Ron added.

"And last year he really did fight You-Know-Who," Hermione said, glancing at Harry.

"It all sounds great when you say it like that," Harry shook his head, "but a lot of the time, it was just luck. I didn't have help, I didn't always know what I was doing, and I-,"

"So you're saying that you really don't know how to do any of the stuff we're supposed to be learning?" Zacharias Smith asked.

Really, that boy was so annoying.

"That's not what he said," Fred glared at Zacharias.

"Yeah, do you need us to clean your ears out for you?" George pulled out a long, scary looking object from one of his Zonko's bags.

"Or any part of your body really. We aren't fussy where we stick this," Fred shrugged.

Zacharias took one look at the object and fell silent.

"Continue, Harry," I said with an encouraging smile.

"Anyway, being out there in the real world is not like school. In school, if you mess up you can come back and try again tomorrow, but in the real world, being out there fighting, there aren't any second chances. It's just you."

"He's really back?" a boy named Nigel asked quietly.

Harry nodded. The room was silent once more. It was rather creepy and dramatic too, I might add.

"Well, then," Hemrione said, "if everyone who'd like to join would please sign this paper-,"

"Why should we sign?" Ernie Macmillan asked. "I mean, some of us are prefects. What if Umbridge finds it?"

"You don't think she'd leave this lying around, do you?" Ron asked, waving the paper around.

"No, I suppose not," Ernie said.

The paper went around the table. I signed it quickly and passed it to Neville. Once the paper had reached Hermione again, she continued talking.

"Now, we need to decide on a date for the first meeting and also a place to meet."

"What's wrong with here?" Zacharias asked.

"Well, we'll only be able to meet here on Hogsmeade weekends and we'd like to meet more often than that," Hermione answered, calmly.

"I don't know how she doesn't bite that kid's head off," Ginny whispered.

"I wouldn't go as far as rip his head off," I whispered back. "Maybe something a little less violent."

"Like a pepper every flavored bean?" Neville asked, shaking the box quietly.

"Yes, like that."

"Or a Puking Pastil," Ginny said evilly.

"A what?" I asked.

"Fred and George have been selling them and testing them on first years," Ginny said. "One half makes you puke violently and the other half makes you stop immediately. We can just conveniently forget to give Zacharias the second half."

"You know, Ginny, you really are just like your brothers sometimes," I said.

"That's not always a bad thing," she laughed.

Hermione was now saying that she, Harry, and Ron would be in contact when they found a suitable meeting place and a date. After that, the group dispersed into the streets of Hogsmeade again.

I was terribly excited for the next meeting. I couldn't wait to learn all of the defensive spells that Harry would teach us, but even more importantly, I was excited to do this behind Umbridge's back. I was excited to do this for Neville, to make sure that what his parents did wasn't in vain; wasn't for nothing. I wanted to help Neville make his parents proud.


	7. Chapter 7

**I do not own Harry Potter**

_Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower._  
><em><strong>Hans Christian Andersen<br>**_

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><p>There was a slight problem. Umbridge was coming up with new decrees at a quickly increasing speed. The newest one is the source of the problem. Her newest decree states that all clubs and organizations were banned and needed her permission to be reformed. I wondered if she had somehow found out about the meetings.<p>

She had also appointed herself the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. She has begun to observe classes and she now had the power to put teachers on probation if she saw it necessary. The other day, I walked into Charms to see her sitting in the back of the room, looking extremely toad like and constipated. If I had the same fiery attitude and courage as Ginny I would suggest that Umbridge pay a visit to the nurse for that.

"Harry's found a place to hold the meetings from now on," Neville whispered into my ear. I jumped slightly and turned to face him. I hadn't expected anyone to come up behind me. It was dinnertime and I was swirling my fork through my mashed potatoes, making designs.

"Has he?" I asked. "What about the new decree?"

"We're pretending that it doesn't exist," Neville said, grinning. He was excited. It was showing all over his face and in his eyes. I was excited too. This was really happening. We were really going to start a group against Umbridge and the Ministry, ignoring the new decree.

"Oh, how exciting," I said with a smile. Lowering my voice to a whisper, I asked Neville where the meeting would be held.

"The seventh floor," he answered. He gave me directions on how to get there and instructions on how to get in. According to him, Harry had found something called the Room of Requirement and the door only appeared if you walked by three times, thinking each time of the thing you needed. It sounded very interesting.

The meeting wasn't until the next Wednesday, and I spent the next week anxiously waiting for the time to come.

I left Ravenclaw tower early the next Wednesday. I simply couldn't wait any longer to go to the Room of Requirement. I didn't mind if I was going to be a little early and I was sure Harry wouldn't either. I also didn't mind the rather long walk to get there. Going for walks through the castle is relaxing, especially at night. It's too bad I don't have an Invisibility cloak like Harry because then I would be able to go out after hours.

I happily skipped down the hallway until I reached the blank stretch of wall that Neville had described. I looked around to make sure nobody was coming before walking past the wall three times. I stared as a door slowly appeared in front of me, just like Neville had said. I reached out and turned the doorknob, slowly pushing the door open.

"Luna, you're here! Great!" Harry said. From the looks of it, I was the first one there besides Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry actually looked pleased that someone other than his two best friends had decided to show up.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, Harry," I said cheerily, staring around the room.

The door opened behind me and Neville stepped into the room. His eyes lit up when he saw me and he smiled. I smiled back.

"Why don't you all sit down while we wait for everyone else to get here," Harry suggested. I sat down on one of the cushions lying on the floor. Neville sat next to me, brushing his arm against mine. I didn't know if it was accidental or on purpose, but I didn't especially care.

Once everyone had arrived, Harry attempted to talk, but Hermione interrupted by throwing her hand in the air. It wasn't a surprise. She always had something to say. It was quite funny, actually.

"Yes, Hermione?" Harry asked.

"I was just thinking that we should elect a leader," she said.

"Harry's leader," Cho Chang said.

"Obviously," Neville whispered to me. I giggled.

Harry being the leader made the most sense. I had already just assumed that Harry was the official unspoken leader.

"Can we all agree on Harry being the leader, then?" Hermione asked. Everyone nodded and Harry blushed.

"Okay, and I also think we should come up with a name," Hermione continued.

"What about the Defense Association?" Cho asked. "The DA for short."

"The DA is good," Ginny said. She was sitting on my other side, holding hands with Michael. "But let's make it stand for Dumbledore's Army. It's what the Ministry's afraid of, isn't it?"

"What a good idea, Ginny," I said, smiling.

There was a unanimous vote to make Dumbledore's Army the name of our club. I personally liked the name a lot. I got the feeling that if Dumbledore knew what we were doing, he would be proud.

"Alright, so I thought today we could start with the disarming spell," Harry said.

"Expelliarmus?" Zacharias Smith asked, wrinkling his nose. "That's such a simple spell."

"It saved my life last June," Harry said quietly.

Zacharias didn't say anything else. It was a good thing, too. I didn't very much like him. His head was probably filled with Nargles.

"So get into pairs and just start practicing," Harry said. "I'll walk around to check your progress and give help to anyone who needs it."

"Be my partner?" Neville asked.

"Of course," I answered.

He stood up and grabbed my hand, pulling me to my feet. We stood a few feet apart and got ready to practice.

"You can go first," I told him.

He cleared his throat. "Expelliarmus!" Nothing happened.

"It was a good try, Neville," I said with a small smile.

"I'm not very good at this," he mumbled.

"Just keep trying," I answered.

Neville never succeeded in disarming me during the meeting. I successfully disarmed him three times and I felt bad about it. He was clearly upset that he wasn't able to do it at all.

"Don't worry," I told him, patting his arm. "You'll do it someday."

"When exactly is that? When is someday?" he asked with a sigh. Harry was dismissing the DA in small groups so we wouldn't look suspicious.

I looked at the ceiling as I thought. Most people would have said 'I don't know' or 'soon' or 'eventually,' but I wanted to give him a real answer.

"I don't think I can give you an exact date, but Harry is a good teacher, don't you agree? He'll make sure that you'll be able to learn how defend yourself and defend yourself well. That's why we're all there, isn't it?"

"But I'm the worst out of everyone. Disarming is easy, but I can't do it."

"You will when it's meant to be," I said with a smile. "It wasn't meant to happen today but it will happen. I promise. You'll just have to keep practicing and listen to Harry's advice."

"He says I'm 'flourishing my wand too much,'" Neville quoted.

I nodded. "Harry will make sure you can do it."

"I think so too," Neville agreed. We had come to the place where we had to go our separate ways and we stopped and looked at each other.

"Well, I guess we'd better hurry. We don't want to get caught by Umbridge."

"Do you want to feed the thestrals with me again this weekend?" I blurted out.

Neville blinked a few times. "If you're sure-,"

"I'm sure," I answered.

"I'd like that," Neville answered. "What time?"

"How about Saturday an hour before dinner?" I suggested. That was my favorite time to feed the thestrals. It was right when the sun was going down. My other favorite time was in the early morning when the sun was coming up. I loved sunrises and sunsets. They were so beautiful to watch.

"Okay, I'll meet you down there. Saturday before dinner."

"Saturday before dinner," I repeated.

We walked our separate ways and I glanced over my shoulder when I got to the end of the hallway. Neville was just glancing over his shoulder at me. I quickly turned around, my cheeks red.

I wondered vaguely if the times I spent with Neville feeding the thestrals counted as dates. I wasn't sure how this whole thing worked. I didn't even know for sure how he felt about me. Then I remembered how he had blushed when Dobby told him he was lucky to have a friend like me.

I really didn't know what to make of any of this. That was Ginny's job. I just wasn't gifted with understanding the male species. Instead, I ended up gifted with understanding unusual creatures. Although, I suppose it could be argued that boys are unusual creatures. I certainly thought so anyway.

On Saturday, I actually reached the thestrals earlier than the time I agreed to meet Neville. I wanted a few minutes alone with them before he got there. Not that I didn't want his company, but it's hard to explain. There's something about the quiet and the sunlight filtering through the trees that makes me feel really calm.

"Hey, you got here early."

I spun around. I had been patting a thestral on the nose, completely in my own little world, and Neville's voice had scared me. "Yeah, I suppose I did," I answered.

"I didn't mean to scare you," Neville came over to stand next to me and smiled up at the thestral.

"It's quite alright," I answered, turning back to the bag of food I had brought with me. I handed it to Neville. "Your turn. I've already had a head start with feeding them."

Neville took the bag. He was getting really comfortable with feeding them and they were learning to trust him. It was nice. I actually didn't mind sharing this with Neville. I think he found it as interesting and relaxing as I did.

"Luna, can I ask you a question?" Neville asked.

"Of course," I responded.

He looked at me and smiled. "What's your favorite color?"

I thought for a minute. "I'm not sure if I have one," I answered finally.

"Why not?" he asked, looking interested.

"Because," I said slowly, carefully choosing my words. "Every color, even the ones that most people don't tend to like, you know, like brown or gray, is useful and beautiful in its own way. For example, not many people will say their favorite color is brown, but that's probably because they associate it with things that they don't think are pretty, like dirt or mud-,"

"Or poop," Neville added, gesturing to a spot where a thestral had done its business on the ground.

That got me laughing. It was just the way he said it, so calm and with a straight face that had been funny. "Yeah, that too," I said. "Anyway, my point is that even though brown is a 'boring' color, it still is a color that adds life to something. Plus, there are good things that are brown. Like chocolate."

"Chocolate is probably the best brown thing I've ever heard of," Neville said, nodding. "Beats mud and poop by a landslide."

"How disgusting," I said with a smile.

"You brought it up," Neville said, pointing at me.

"Do you know what I'm trying to say, though?" I asked.

"Yeah, you basically think every color is worth loving and just because one of them is universally considered ugly or boring doesn't mean it really is."

"Exactly. It all depends on how you look at it," I said.

"I've never thought about it like that," Neville said. "That's why I asked you though. I knew you'd have an interesting answer to such a simple question."

I smiled again. "Most people don't find me interesting at all."

"Well I do," Neville answered forcefully.

I blinked up at him in silence.

"Sorry," he said quietly. "I just really do think you're interesting."

"Thank you," I said quietly.

We finished feeding the thestrals and walked back up to the school. I was hoping we wouldn't be caught by Umbridge, but dinner was just about to start and with some luck we could blend in with the crowd.

"Excited for the next DA meeting?" Neville asked as we reached the front doors.

"Of course," I answered. I started looking forward to it right after the last one ended."

"Me too," Neville grinned. "I feel like the DA will help me to actually learn."

"Yes," I agreed. "It's like having a big family."

"Except Zacharias," Neville said. "I wouldn't want him in my family."

"Neither would I," I said. "Although, I think he's generally good, but just a little obnoxious."

"Do you always find the good in everything?" Neville asked.

I shrugged as we blended in with the students heading to dinner. "I try to."

"Good because we need more people who do that, I think," Neville smiled.

I had to agree with him.


	8. Chapter 8

**I don't own Harry Potter. **

**Thanks for all of the reviews! I'm glad people are enjoying the story so far. I actually find Neville and Luna easy to understand, but difficult to write. It's still a lot of fun though!**

**Don't forget to review!**

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><p>The next DA meeting was held the following week. The news was spreading to the other members during meals. I thought everyone looked rather odd crossing the great hall to whisper into people's ears. The Slytherins looked very left out and confused, which I found to be amusing, but they wouldn't want any part of the DA anyway. Most of them actually liked Umbridge, which is ridiculous. How anyone could ever like that woman is beyond me.<p>

I got to the Room of Requirement early again. It was as if I half hoped getting there early would make the meeting start sooner. We'd only had one meeting besides the one in the Hog's Head, but I already loved being a part of this. I was already getting better at magic, learning new spells, and the DA was the closest thing to a group of friends that I've ever had.

We practiced disarming again today. Neville was still having difficulty halfway through the meeting, but I could tell he was determined to get it. His face was scrunched up in concentration.

"Remember what Harry said," I reminded him. "Don't flourish your wand as much."

"I know," Neville sighed, his teeth clenched and his eyes narrowed. He was staring at his wand as if he wanted to snap it in half out of frustration.

I lowered my own wand and walked over to Neville. I stood next to him and grabbed the wrist holding the wand. "Like this," I said, moving his hand through the air in the correct movement. "It's really more of a simple, quick movement. How about you try just the movement and then when you're ready you can try to disarm me again."

Neville nodded and waved his wand again. "How was that?"

"Good," I nodded, walking back to my spot in front of him. "Now try it with the incantation."

Neville took a deep breath and waved his wand like I had showed him. "Expelliarmus," he said. It worked. My wand flew out of my hand towards Neville. He was so surprised that he didn't even catch it. It clattered to the floor a few feet away.

"That was lovely, Neville," I said, smiling.

"Neville, you did it!" Harry said, coming over and clapping Neville on the back.

"Yeah, I did," Neville said breathlessly. "I really did it."

"I knew you would," I told him as I walked over to pick up my wand.

"I did it!" Neville exclaimed. He ran over to me, picked me up and spun me around while I let out a surprised laugh and Harry just grinned and continued making his way around the room to check on other groups.

"That was wonderful," I said happily.

Neville was absolutely beaming. "Thank you for helping me, Luna."

"I didn't do much," I shrugged.

"You did. You helped me," he said. "I couldn't have done it without you and Harry."

"But you did. Harry and I only guided you. You performed the spell all on your own. We didn't do it for you so technically it was all you. It depends on how you want to look at it."

"I guess that's true," Neville said thoughtfully. "Maybe I'm not completely worthless after all."

"Neville," I said, surprised. "You were never worthless."

He glanced up at me, then down at his hands. He twirled his wand nervously between his fingers. His cheeks turned red and he cleared his throat. "Well, let's continue practicing, shall we?"

I nodded and waited for him to get ready for me to disarm him. I was proud of Neville and I loved the DA. I was really beginning to think that starting Dumbledore's Army was the best thing that had happened to me, and not just to me but to Neville and to everyone else who wanted to defeat You-Know-Who.

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><p>Umbridge still has no idea that we organized a whole group of people who are learning to defend themselves behind her back. It makes me laugh, actually. I imagine this must be how Fred and George feel after they've pulled a very good prank. I understand now why they like pulling pranks so much. It is a rather nice feeling.<p>

I've never felt so much a part of something before either. This is the first time I've felt that I have a large group of real friends since I set foot in Hogwarts a little over three years ago. I would say I'm the closest to Neville, Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but I've actually made a few friends within my own house. It's rather nice to have friends to rely on.

It's going to be Christmas soon and our last day of classes before the break is tomorrow. Our last DA meeting until after Christmas is tomorrow as well. I'm looking forward to it, but at the same time, I'm dreading it. I don't want to have to take a break from the DA, even if it's only for a few weeks. Also, a break from the DA means a break from Neville. He's going home for the break and so am I.

Other than that, I'm very happy to be going on Christmas break. I could really use a rest from my schoolwork. I don't mind doing it, and I do get good grades, but it can be very tiresome. I'd much rather read, draw, or daydream.

During the late afternoon on the last day of classes, I found myself heading up to the owlery. I had a little extra time before dinner and I didn't want to go to Ravenclaw tower. I just wasn't in the mood to be there.

The owlery was the first place that popped into my head. I would have gone to feed the thestrals, but I had just gone yesterday and it was starting to snow now anyway. Plus, I hadn't gone to visit the owls in a while.

I walked up the steps, dragging my hand along the cool stone wall. I smiled when I reached the top. The owls always fascinated me. There were so many different kinds and so many different shades of brown, black, white and grey. I spotted Harry's owl, Hedwig up on a perch near the ceiling.

I made my way over to the window and climbed up on the windowsill, making myself comfortable. At home, I had a window seat in my bedroom. It was probably my favorite spot in the entire house.

After a few minutes of silence besides the low hooting of owls, I heard footsteps. I hopped off the windowsill and dusted off my clothes. I didn't want to be in the way if someone needed to send a letter.

"Luna, what are you doing up here?"

I smiled and blinked. It was Neville. "Nothing. I was actually about to leave."

"You don't have to leave. I'm just sending a letter to my gran and then I'm going to dinner. We can walk down together." He paused for a second. "If you want to, that is." He smiled at me hopefully.

"Okay," I answered, walking across the room to examine the owls while Neville attached his letter to another owl's leg.

"This one won't stay put," he complained.

I turned around. The owl he was using was moving around a lot, making it impossible for Neville to attach his letter. I walked over, reached into my pocket and pulled out an owl treat. I held it in front of the owl's face, but just out of reach. The owl stopped and stared at the treat. I watched Neville and made sure he had attached the letter before finally giving the owl the treat.

"Bring the letter to gran," Neville said to the owl. It looked at him for a second before flapping out of the window, growing smaller and smaller.

"It's like a painting," I observed as the owl became a black speck against the sunset.

"You keep owl treats in your pocket?" Neville asked, not responding to my statement.

"Well, when I'm coming up to the owlery, yes. They come in handy when there are going to be owls around, you see."

Neville laughed. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. I'm not surprised that you do that, actually. I bet you weren't sending a letter either. Unless, of course, you were." He turned red and half smiled at me.

I shook my head. "I wasn't. Not today, at least. Today I just had some free time so I came up and looked out the window and visited with the owls."

"Do you feed all of the animals Hogwarts has?" Neville asked curiously.

I smiled. "Well, no. I feed the thestrals and the owls and sometimes I try to throw food down to the giant squid and the creatures in the lake, but I don't do that often. Hagrid usually takes care of all the other animals. He seems to enjoy that a lot."

Neville nodded. "Are you going to the DA meeting tonight?"

"Of course. It's the last one before break. I wouldn't miss it. Not that I would miss it anyway, but…" I trailed off and smiled, shrugging one shoulder.

"Right, stupid question," Neville said, half smiling again.

"No question is a stupid question," I told him, heading for the door. He followed me and we walked to dinner together. The last few students were walking into the great hall when we got there, and so was Umbridge. Unfortunately, she turned and saw us.

"Well, where have you two been?" she asked sweetly.

"Sending letters," Neville answered. "There isn't a rule that says we can't, is there?"

"No, Mr. Longbottom," she said with a smile. "There isn't, luckily for you, or else you both would be in some trouble and we don't want that." She giggled and walked towards the staff table.

"She's probably off to go eat newt's eyes and frog's legs," Neville mumbled.

"Well, I don't know about newt's eyes, but if she ate frog's legs, that would be like eating part of her own species," I pointed out.

"Ribbit," Neville said.

"Ribbit," I answered with a smile.

After dinner, I passed Neville on my way out of the room. I mouthed that I'd see him later and he gave me a thumbs up.

An hour later, the DA was waiting for Harry to start the meeting. Finally he cleared his throat and the room fell silent.

"Well, I thought today we could just review what we've learned so far," he said.

We had really learned a lot in the few months since we had organized the DA. Besides disarming, we had done levitation, shrinking, summoning, vanishing, and many other useful spells, half of which I never knew existed.

"We're not learning anything new?" Zacharias Smith said loudly. "If I had known that I wouldn't have come."

"We're all really sorry Harry didn't tell you then," Fred said just as loudly.

I had to say, I truly was sorry that Zacharias had shown up, but on the other hand, the fact that he did show up for every meeting said something. I suppose.

"Alright, well," Harry said nervously, "you know what to do. Get into pairs, and we'll start with summoning these cushions like we did before."

Every group of two scrambled to get a cushion. Neville went to get ours while I waited patiently at our usually practice spot.

"Ready?" Neville asked, dropping the pillow on the floor a few feet in front of me and backing up a few steps.

I nodded and held up my wand, concentrating on the pillow. "Accio!" I said, flicking my wand. The pillow twitched about an inch forward. It didn't even leave the ground. This was the spell I had the most trouble with. Sometimes I could do it, and sometimes I couldn't. I suppose the spell was being selective with me.

Neville came to stand next to me. "Try holding your hand this way, palm side down instead of sideways." He adjusted my hand, just like I had with him when I helped him learn how to disarm people.

"Oh, so that's the trick to it," I said, nodding my head in fascination.

"Hm?" Neville asked, tilting his head.

"Every spell has a certain trick to it that makes it work perfectly. For this one, it seems to be holding your hand sideways."

"What was the trick to the disarming spell?"

"The quick movement," I answered. "The shorter and quicker it is, the better the spell will be."

"And every spell has one? A trick?" Neville asked.

"Oh of course," I answered.

"Well, go ahead, let's see if it works." Neville smiled and nodded towards my outstretched wand.

I turned back to the pillow and took a breath. "Accio!" The pillow shot into the air and headed straight for me. I was so surprised that I didn't have time to move and the pillow hit me right in the face. It flopped to the ground and I blinked in surprise.

"Are you okay?" Neville asked, widening his eyes.

"Yes," I said, smiling at him. "It was a pillow, you see, so it didn't hurt at all."

"Thank goodness the room provided them instead of bricks, then," Neville answered.

I laughed. "You're quite comical sometimes Neville with the things you say."

"That was funny, what I just said?" Neville wrinkled his nose.

I nodded. "I thought so at least. That must count for something."

"It does, trust me," Neville said. He smiled and glanced at me shyly. He cleared his throat again and stepped away from the pillow. "It's my turn now."

Neville was good at this spell. He had gotten it on the first try on the day we practiced and he performed it perfectly now. The pillow flew straight towards him and into his hand.

"The pillow appears to like you more," I commented.

Neville smiled and stared at the pillow. "I've never been really good at something before. Spells, I mean. I'm good at Herbology, but that's just plant work."

"It's not _just_ plant work, Neville. Herbology takes talent and skill, just like everything else."

"I never thought of that," he said, looking up at me.

"It's true," I smiled.

"Maybe I can show you my mimbulus mimbletonia one time," he said. "I've been taking care of it all year. It's nearly fully grown now."

"That sounds wonderful. I would love to see it."

"Great," Neville said. "How about tonight?"

"Tonight?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah, why not? Tomorrow we'll be on break for two weeks and I'm rather excited to show it to someone. Nobody's ever shown any interest before."

"Okay, Neville," I answered. "Tonight should be fine."

"Great," he said again, smiling, and twirling the pillow between his hands.

Harry stood smiling at all of us when he ended the meeting a few hours later. "You've all really made incredible progress. I think after the holiday we'll be able to start working on patronuses."

"Those are what I'm most excited for," I whispered to Ginny and Neville as everyone else gasped in excitement.

"Me too," Ginny said with a nod.

"I'll see everyone after Christmas," Harry was saying now.

"Come on," Neville said, dragging me towards the door.

"Have a great Christmas, Harry," I managed to say as we passed.

"Thank you, Luna, you too," he answered.

"Neville, why are you in such a hurry?" I asked.

"Because I just got hit with an idea," he said, dragging me through the hallways.

"Was it as soft as that pillow?" I asked.

Neville stopped and looked at me before he burst into laughter. "You know, you're quite funny yourself, Luna."

"Am I?" I asked, tilting my head and smiling.

"Yes, you are," he answered. He took my hand again and dragged me all the way to a portrait of a fat lady. "Um, I need to get into the common room. Will you cover your ears so that you won't hear the password?"

"I'm not going to break into Gryffindor tower," I said with a giggle.

"No, I know, but I got in trouble once," he whispered, "in my third year for leaving a paper with passwords written on it. I've been extra cautious since then."

"Okay," I agreed. I put my hands over my ears and began absentmindedly humming to myself. Neville disappeared through a hole in the wall behind the portrait. Finally he came back, carrying a relatively small plant that resembled a cactus.

"This is my mimbulus mimbletonia," he said proudly.

"Oh it looks very beautiful and interesting," I said, uncovering my ears and clapping my hands together.

"I'll tell you more about it later when we get to where we need to go. Come on." He shifted the plant to one arm and grabbed my hand again.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To the greenhouses. You always invite me to feed the thestrals with you, so now I'm inviting you to come help me feed the plants."

"You feed the plants?" I asked.

Neville nodded. "Professor Sprout is always happy for the help. I usually don't go at night, but seeing as these were last minute plans, I think I can make an exception."

"You don't have to for me," I said.

"But I want to," Neville answered. He pushed open the oak front doors and led me across the lawn.

"If Umbridge catches us," I began, but I didn't finish. I didn't really care if we got caught. We were already holding DA meetings and doing that behind her back made her satisfaction at giving detention all the more amusing.

The greenhouses looked lovely at night. The moonlight shone through the glass, illuminating the plants in a silvery glow.

Neville set his plant down on a table. "Let's start over here." He took me to one corner of the room and picked up two spray bottles. He handed one to me.

"What do I do with this?" I asked.

"It's a type of plant food and fertilizer mixed in one," he said. "All you have to do is spray it onto the plants. "Just a few sprays should do it."

He demonstrated on one of the three plants sitting on a table next to us. I did the middle one, and he did the last one. When we were done with those, we moved to the plants near the longest wall.

"This is the area with the most sun during the day," Neville explained. "These plants need the most sun to grow, which is why they're over here."

There were four plants, large ones at that, lined up by the wall. One had large tentacles snaking from it.

"A venomous tentacula," I said, remembering learning about it in class.

Neville nodded. "It's sleeping right now. Maybe I should water that one. If it wakes up, it'll be hard to get away from those tentacles."

I nodded. That plant was rather frightening. I settled for spraying the next plant, which didn't have moving tentacles. I liked this plant a lot better.

"You're doing wonderful, Luna," Neville said.

I looked up to find him watching me. "Thank you," I said. "I've never fed plants before. As you know, my thing is-,"

"The animals," Neville finished, nodding.

"The animals," I repeated, smiling and nodding. I glanced through the glass of the greenhouse. I wondered how the thestrals were doing.

Neville set down his spray bottle and cleared his throat. I looked back at him. "Luna, may I ask you a question?" he asked.

"Of course, you can ask me anything," I answered.

He looked at the ceiling, then back at me. "I've been thinking about how to do this for a while and I wanted to get it all out now before we go on break and I don't see you for two weeks."

I reached out and took his hand, giving it a squeeze. "Just get it out, Neville. If there's a Nargle in here, it'll infest your brain and you'll lose your train of thought."

Neville gave a small laugh. "My question is, will you be my girlfriend?"

I gasped. "Your girlfriend?" Nobody had ever asked me to be their girlfriend before, especially a boy that I liked.

"Yes," Neville squeaked.

"I would very much like to be your girlfriend, Neville," I answered, squeezing his hand again.

"Really?" he asked, looking as if he couldn't believe it.

"Really," I answered.

He smiled wider. "Come over here." He led me to a corner of the greenhouse and pointed at the ceiling. "I'm sure you're familiar with this plant."

"Of course I am. It's mistletoe," I said.

"Is it filled with Nargles?" Neville asked.

"No," I answered, "Nargles don't hide in mistletoe. Wrackspurts do, but luckily, this mistletoe is all clear."

"Good," Neville said, satisfied. He looked at me for a few seconds. I waited.

"Well?" I asked finally, smiling widely at him, my traditional "dreamy" smile.

"Well what?" Neville sounded dazed by something. He was still staring at me, too.

I pointed to the mistletoe. "You'll have to hurry up before the Wrackspurts smell the mistletoe. They have a strong sense of smell you know."

"Oh do they?" Neville asked quietly with a smile.

I nodded. Neville leaned forward. My stomach fluttered worse than ever. And then our noses bumped. That wasn't supposed to happen.

"Sorry," Neville mumbled.

"No need to be sorry," I whispered, not leaning away.

This time we got it right and it was wonderful. It was one of the most magical moments of my life and everything a first kiss was supposed to be. It was perfect.


	9. Chapter 9

_"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." _**-Maya Angelou**

**I don't own Harry Potter**

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><p>Neville walked me back to Ravenclaw tower and I found myself twirling in small, happy circles as I walked up to my dorm. He had given me a kiss goodnight and we hadn't bumped noses again, thank goodness.<p>

My pajamas were missing again, but I didn't even bother trying to get them back. They would turn up eventually. Hopefully before I went home tomorrow for the holiday. I climbed into bed wearing my clothes and tried to go to sleep, but I was finding it quite difficult. I was also finding it difficult to stop smiling and I knew it was definitely not due to the Nargles that I had sensed flying around earlier.

* * *

><p>"You're certainly in a good mood," Hermione observed the next day as we boarded the train back to King's Cross.<p>

"I am," I answered, smiling. I was craning my neck looking for Neville. He had said he would meet me on the train so that we could sit together.

"I get the feeling it's not because Christmas is coming," Hermione smirked knowingly.

"Let's sit in here," I said, picking a compartment. It was too crowded out in the aisles.

"So why are you so happy?" Hermione asked. "I mean, you're always happy, but today you're even more so than usual."

I sat down and leaned against the window, still smiling. "I went to the greenhouses with Neville to help him feed the plants last night."

Hermione smiled. "How nice. But wait," her eyes widened. "You snuck out of the castle?"

"I thought you were becoming more lenient about breaking the rules," I said.

"Well, yes, but still rules are rules," she answered, crossing her arms.

"That's not all," I said.

"No?" she asked, smiling again.

I shook my head. "Neville and I are dating now." It still felt funny to say. I wasn't quite used to it yet.

Hermione's smile widened. "That's great! You make a really great couple."

I smiled and reached into my bag. I was looking for the newest edition of the Quibbler that my dad had sent to me two days ago. I hadn't gotten the chance to read it yet, but he wrote in his letter that it was a very interesting edition. I found it and opened it up to the first page.

"Hi," said a familiar voice from the compartment door.

I looked up and smiled. It was Neville.

"Hello Neville," Hermione said with a wide grin and a glance at me.

"It looks like Luna told you the news," he said, glancing at me.

I nodded and smiled at him. He sat down next to me and tentatively put his arm around my shoulders. I relaxed into him and I felt his arm relax as well. Hermione was giving us a look as if she was our mother and she was wondering where the time had gone.

"Where are Harry, Ron and Ginny?" I asked. "They aren't staying at school, are they?"

"No," Hermione said, becoming serious. "I got a letter from Ron early this morning. The Weasleys and Harry left the school in the middle of the night. Ron's dad is in St. Mungo's."

"Why?" Neville asked at once.

"Snake bite," Hermione answered. "He was working at the Ministry and he was attacked."

"That's terrible. Will he be alright?" I asked.

"He should be," Hermione nodded. "It was a close call, though. I would've gone straight over as soon as I heard, but I already promised my parents I'd go skiing with them. I might be able to leave early though."

"You'll have to let us know as soon as you find out any news," Neville told her. She nodded and there was a silence between the three of us.

"Do you want to read the newest edition of the Quibbler?" I asked Hermione. "I have lots of copies in here." I nudged my bag with my toe.

"Sure, why not?" she shrugged. I passed her a magazine and leaned back into Neville.

"Do you want one too?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I'll just read over your shoulder."

"There's an interesting article in here about common myths on Nargles," I said. "I haven't gotten to read it yet, though. I like to wait until the magazine comes out before I read the articles."

"That makes sense," Neville agreed. "Have you ever written anything for The Quibbler?"

"Once," I said. "When I was eight I wrote an article about freshwater plimpies and how to make soup out of them. Dad edited it and then published it."

"Do you still have that edition? I'd like to read the article."

"You really would? I was only eight. It's not very good. Even though my dad edited it, he mostly only checked for grammar."

"Of course I want to read it," Neville gave my shoulders a squeeze.

"I'll mail it to you over the break," I said, smiling.

"There's no rush," he shrugged.

"It'll be no trouble," I answered, smiling and flipping through the magazine in my hands.

I found the article on Nargle myths and held the magazine so that Neville could read it too.

"Ah, look, there's the one about mistletoe," he said, pointing to number five on the list.

I nodded. "Yes, that's actually a very common myth. Another common one is this one." I pointed to number six and read out loud. "'Nargles only live in warm climates.' Nargles can actually live anywhere in any weather condition, even snow, rain, and extreme cold. They can even survive in water for a small amount of time."

"Interesting," Neville said.

"Have you or your father ever seen a Nargle?" Hermione asked. She was reading the same article in her own magazine.

"I haven't, but dad claims he has. He's done a lot of research and traveling as well. That's how he gets his facts for the magazine."

It was no surprise that Hermione doubted a lot of the creatures I talked about existed. I didn't mind, though. A lot of people didn't believe me and they made it clear. The difference between them and people like Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Harry and Neville was that they didn't make fun of me for it. Hermione sometimes subtly showed her skepticism, but she was never rude about it. And of course Neville had always shown an interest; the most interest out of anyone and I really appreciated that.

When the train pulled into the station, Neville, Hermione and I dragged our things off of the train.

"Well, there are my parents," Hermione said, gesturing to two friendly looking people who were waving. "Have a good holiday."

"You too," Neville and I said together.

"I can see my gran," Neville said, staring over my shoulder. I turned to see an old lady moving slowly through the crowd, her eyes narrowed as she searched for her grandson. "Do you want to meet her?"

I hesitated. I didn't see my dad yet, so I had time, but I was nervous about meeting Neville's grandmother. I actually worried that if she didn't like me, Neville would change his mind about wanting to date me. I sort of knew deep down that he wouldn't do that, though. "Alright," I said finally.

"Great." Neville excitedly pulled me towards his grandmother. "Hello, Gran," he said, kissing her cheek when we reached her.

"Hello Neville. How is school so far? Are you studying hard? Doing all of your homework? Socializing enough?"

"Yes, Gran," Neville sighed. He had a slight smile on his face. "I'd like you to meet someone. This is Luna. She's—she's my girlfriend." He turned and beamed at me, running his thumb along the back of my hand.

"Girlfriend!" his grandmother practically shouted. A few people actually stared. I waved at them and smiled. They just walked away and diverted their attention to other things.

"Yes, girlfriend," Neville said, looking embarrassed by his grandmother's outburst.

"Since when?" she asked.

"Since yesterday," Neville answered.

His grandmother turned her attention to me and smiled. "Well hello, Luna. It's lovely to meet you."

"It's lovely to meet you too," I smiled.

"Now, are you in Neville's year at school?" she asked.

"No, I'm only in my fourth year," I answered.

She nodded. "Neville's going to have to start thinking about what he wants to do after he leaves school. He has his OWL's coming up as well. I do hope he is studying hard for those."

"I'm sure he is. Neville is very smart," I told her. I smiled at Neville and he smiled back at me gratefully.

"Are you in the same house?"

"No, she's in Ravenclaw," Neville said. "I wish we were in the same house, though. I'd get to see her more often. We don't even have classes together because of the age difference."

"Just as well," his grandmother said. "We can't have either of you getting too distracted." She smiled at Neville. "I'm sure you're going to make your parents proud one day."

"I think he already has," I chimed in." Both Neville and his grandmother looked at me.

"I haven't really done anything special yet," Neville mumbled. "I mean, I'm still going to school and I'm not even the best in my year."

"I think they'd be proud of you no matter what," I said. "You're their son after all. I'm sure they're proud of you for being you."

Neville smiled at me and kissed my cheek. "Thank you," he whispered into my ear.

Neville's grandmother was smiling as well. "Neville, I think you've picked a keeper."

"I think so too," he said, grinning.

"Luna, darling, there you are!"

I turned to see my father, dressed in bright blue, walking towards me happily. He had a leaf stuck in his long, pale hair.

"Hello daddy," I said, hugging him and pulling out the leaf. "What were you doing?" I held it up and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I was just searching for some Camouflaged Canaries. There are supposed to be some living in the woods near our house."

"Did you find any?" I asked.

"Camouflaged Canaries?" Neville asked at the same time.

"Canaries that live in the woods and cab blend in with any surrounding. It helps them avoid getting caught," I whispered.

"Which, I'm sorry to say, is probably the reason I didn't find any. There are certain types of binoculars that can help with that. I should probably invest in a pair." He tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"Dad," I said. "This is Neville Longbottom, my boyfriend."

Dad snapped out of his momentary trance and blinked. He looked at me, then at Neville.

"And this is my gran," Neville said, gesturing to his grandmother.

"Xenophilius Lovegood," my dad said, shaking her hand.

"Augusta Longbottom," she said.

My dad looked back at Neville and me and glanced at our intertwined hands. He raised his gaze to Neville and looked him in the eye. Neville stared politely back.

"I do hope you'll treat my daughter well, Neville," he said seriously.

"Of course I will," Neville answered. "You don't have to worry, Mr. Lovegood."

"Oh, please, call me Xenophilius, or even Xeno if you wish." My dad waved his hand around in the air as if brushing away Neville's attempt at being formal and polite.

"Okay," Neville said hesitantly. I guessed that an adult had never asked him to call them by their first name before.

"Well, we'd best be going," Neville's gran said. "It was lovely to meet you, Luna. You too, Xenophilius."

My dad nodded. Neville and I glanced at each other and luckily, my dad took the hint and engaged Neville's grandmother in a conversation about the Camouflage Canaries.

Neville and I walked a few feet away. Neville looked at me thoughtfully for a second. "Gran and I always go to visit my parents in St. Mungo's on Christmas. I think I might have mentioned that to you, but I was wondering if this year, you'd like to come with us."

"Oh, Neville, I couldn't. It should be just for family. I don't want to impose on that visit."

"I want you there," Neville said. "I don't know, I just think having you there might make it easier on me. Plus, I want my parents to meet you, even if they won't understand who you are."

"Neville, I-,"

He shook his head. "I really want you there. Gran and I have been visiting them by ourselves for years. This time I want you to come. Please say you will. Gran and I can even come get you and bring you there. You're the only person besides gran, Dumbledore, and the rest of my family that knows about them."

"Alright," I said slowly. "If you're sure you want me to be there."

"I'm completely sure," he said. "We'll come get you at noon. We don't stay very long either, so we should have you back home within a few hours. Is that alright?"

"That's fine," I nodded. Dad and I usually spend the morning together opening gifts and then usually cook something together later in the evening, so my afternoon would be free.

"Okay, thank you so much," he said.

I smiled. "I don't mind at all. As long as you want me there, I'm happy to go."

Neville looked thrilled. He kissed me goodbye, his hand snaking around the back of my neck. Then, we ran off to rejoin my dad and his grandmother. We walked our separate ways and I turned around and waved goodbye right before my dad and I left the station together.

Even though the purpose for Neville and I getting together was a rather sad one, I was glad that I would get to see Neville over break. I was also honored that he thought enough of me that he wanted me to meet his parents, even though they would never understand who I was and I would never be able to tell them how happy I was to have gotten to know their son.


	10. Chapter 10

_"I won't be afraid just as long as you stand by me." _**-Stand By Me by Ben E King**

* * *

><p>I woke up early on Christmas day and headed downstairs. Dad was already in the kitchen, making breakfast.<p>

"Good morning Luna darling," he said cheerfully.

"Good morning, dad," I answered, sitting down at the table. Every Christmas dad and I always ate breakfast together before opening our gifts. I pulled my feet up onto my chair and rested my chin on my knees. "What's for breakfast?"

"Eggs, bacon and toast," my dad answered. My dad loved making eggs and. He always said how healthy they were, especially Snorkack eggs, but since we hadn't found any Snorckacks yet, we didn't have any of their eggs.

"It smells good," I said.

"Yes," he nodded. "Would you mind getting the milk out of the fridge?"

I stood up to get the milk and poured some into two glasses; one for each of us.

My dad glanced at me. "So what time is Neville coming to bring you to St. Mungo's?"

"Noon," I answered. I had told my dad last night about going with Neville to visit his parents and he had agreed. He still seemed a little awkward about the fact that I now had a boyfriend.

My dad nodded. "I see. What exactly happened to his parents that they're in St. Mungo's?"

I decided that it was best to not tell him. It wasn't my place to tell the story, even if it was my father asking. It was a rather personal story and I think Neville should be the one to tell who he wants when he's ready to tell them. "I think Neville should tell you if and when he is ready to share it."

"Okay," my father said, nodding again. "It sounds like something terrible."

"It is," I answered quietly.

My dad cleared his throat and put the plates on the table. "Breakfast is ready," he said with a small smile.

I smiled and sat down in my usual chair. My dad sat across from me. The chair between us had been my mother's chair. I glanced at it and thought of my mother, like I always did every day no matter what. I always thought of her especially on Christmas. It had been her favorite holiday. She always wished for it to snow on Christmas. If it wasn't actually snowing, she was always saddened, even if the snow was already on the ground. She liked to watch the snow actually fall on Christmas Day.

My dad saw me looking at my mother's chair but what he said next took me by surprise. "What am I going to do when you leave me?"

"Leave you?" I asked, blinking. I hardly noticed half of the eggs fall off my fork.

He nodded. "You aren't going to live with me forever. You're going to graduate school, get married, and get a job. What am I going to do all alone here?"

"You won't be alone," I said. "I'll come visit you all the time and I don't even have to leave. I can-,"

"No," he shook his head. "I want you to grow and have a good life with everything you've ever hoped for, but I just think it'll be awfully lonely once you're gone. You're my daughter and we've had some memorable times together."

"We have," I agreed. "And we can keep having memorable times. Just because I leave home doesn't mean I leave you. Anyway, I'm only fourteen. I still have three and a half more years of school. It's a long way away."

"Time flies, Luna dear," he said with a sigh.

I didn't answer that. I didn't know how. I just continued eating my eggs. I wondered if I should stay home today after all, but when I brought it up to dad, he shook his head and urged me to go. He seemed happy that I had someone like Neville in my life.

After we washed dishes together, we headed into the living room. My gifts were on the left side of the tree, and my dad's were on the right. I knelt down beside my pile and looked at my dad. "You open one first," I said.

He agreed and picked up a gift from the top of the pile. He looked at the tag. It was from an old friend from school. My dad ripped open the paper. It was a book on Muggle animals.

"I wonder how he managed to get his hands on a Muggle book," my dad said incredulously. "This is fascinating!"

I stood and walked over to him, looking at the book over his shoulder. He opened to a random page. There was a picture of a strange animal. It was brown and white, and very tall with a long neck and long, skinny legs. The word at the top of the page said "giraffe."

"G-raffy," my dad said, trying to pronounce it. "Gear-affay."

"I think it is pronounced giraffe, dad," I said, pronouncing it correctly.

"How do you know?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I think I heard someone at school talking about one once."

"Such funny looking creatures," my dad said. "Maybe sometime we can go looking for Muggle animals! We can extend our Sweden trip. After we search for Snorkacks, we can go looking for the Muggle animals in this book! Especially the G-raffy. I like this animal."

"Sure dad," I giggled. "We can do that."

He smiled at me and kissed my forehead. "You're always so open to new things."

I sat back down and started opening my own gifts. I saw a gift from Neville and smiled, planning to open that one last. I was also relieved that I had run out yesterday morning to buy him a gift as well. I had sent him a new plant to take care of and some food to go with it. The plant was called a Flos Noctis and instead of needing sunlight to grow, it needed moonlight.

I opened a new winter coat from my grandparents. It was light blue and very warm looking. I received a necklace from Ginny with a radish on it. I had taught her how to make jewelrey last year and she had written in her note that she thought the necklace would go with my earrings. I opened a scarf and mittens from Hermione, who had most likely knitted them herself. They were really well done, though. Harry gave me a sketchbook. I wondered how he knew I liked to draw. Ginny must have told him. I even got a small package of assorted candy from Ron. I had never gotten gifts from friends before besides Ginny, but that was probably because I didn't have any friends other than Ginny until now.

I reached for the gift from my dad next. He had given me a set of paints and a variety of paintbrushes. He knew I loved to paint as well as draw. I paint the walls of my room myself whenever I feel like I need a change. So far, in my fourteen years of living here, my room had gone from lavender to yellow to sky blue. I was thinking of doing a coral pink next.

"Thank you dad," I said, holding up the paints and paintbrushes.

"It was no trouble, Luna dear," he smiled, "and thank you for the new camera. This is better than my old one. I can get clearer pictures on it. I'll bring it on our Sweden trip."

"That's what I hoped you'd want to do," I said with a grin.

Finally, I picked up Neville's gift. I gently shook it, wondering what could possibly be inside. It was a small box, and it rattled slightly when I shook it.

I untied the purple bow and slowly slid my finger under the edge of the wrapping paper. For some reason, I didn't want to rip the paper on Neville's gift.

Under the wrapping paper, there was a square, white box. I took the lid off and gasped quietly. It was a new pair of earrings, similar to my radish ones, but instead of radishes, there was mistletoe dangling from them.

"From Neville?" my dad asked.

I nodded. "Yes, from Neville."

"Go put them on. Let's see how they look on you."

I ran up the stairs to my room. Standing in front of my mirror, I took out my radish earrings and gently put them away. One by one, I put on the mistletoe earrings. I shook my head slightly and watched the earrings dangle back and forth. They were beautiful.

"Oh how lovely," my dad said when I returned to the living room. "They look very nice on you."

"Thanks," I answered, lightly touching one of the earrings and smiling.

* * *

><p>At ten minutes to noon, I was sitting at the window seat in my room, absentmindedly twirling a piece of hair in my fingers and anxiously waiting for Neville and his grandmother. My window looked over the backyard, so I wouldn't be able to see him when he got here. I'd just have to wait for them to knock on the door.<p>

When the knock finally came, I stood up, smoothed my shirt, and headed downstairs. When I got there, I saw my dad happily greeting Neville and his grandmother and offering them tea.

"No, thank you. If Luna's ready then we really must be going," Neville's grandmother said.

"She's just upstairs. I can get her."

"No, I'm here," I said with a smile, stepping into the room. Neville grinned at me. I walked over and took his hand.

"Alright, well stay safe Luna dear, and I'll see you when you get back." I could tell he had almost told me to enjoy myself but then thought better of it. Visiting St. Mungo's was usually never enjoyable.

We apparated with Neville's grandmother and appeared just down the street from the hospital. His grandmother led the way while Neville and I walked along behind her, holding hands.

"The earrings look wonderful on you," Neville whispered.

"You noticed that I'm wearing them," I said with a smile.

"Of course," he answered.

"Thank you, by the way. I've always loved earrings and I especially like ones that are interesting and unique."

"That's what I thought," Neville said. "Plus, the mistletoe kind of means something." He blushed and I kissed his cheek, making him blush even more.

"Thank you," I said again.

"And thank you for the plant. Where did you ever find it?"

"A friend of my family grows rare and unusual plants," I replied. "I thought you would appreciate it the most."

"I do appreciate it," Neville answered. "I'm going to think of you every time I have to water it and take care of it. Mostly because you gave it to me but also because it needs moonlight to grow and-,"

"My name means moon," I finished for him.

"Yeah," he said, blushing again. "I think it suits you, your name."

"Do you? My mum had that instinct as well. Even though I was obviously just a baby when she named me, she took one look and claimed that I was a Luna. My dad agreed." I gave him a small smile

Neville traced circles on my hand with his thumb. We had reached the entrance to St. Mungo's and we stepped inside.

We went to the gift shop and picked out flowers to bring upstairs to Neville's parents. I helped to pick out a lovely red poinsettia and Neville carried it in the hand that wasn't holding mine.

"My mum loved Christmas," Neville said quietly as we headed for the elevator.

"My mum too," I answered in a whisper. I don't know why I felt the need to whisper, but it just felt appropriate at the moment.

"At least you still have your dad," Neville mumbled, sounding slightly upset.

I stopped and pulled his hand, making him face me. "Neville, listen. I know it's hard for you, and today even more so, but you have your grandmother. She loves you so much."

"I know that, but at least your mother is probably watching over you. My parents can't even do that. They're physically stuck here while they're minds are gone. And you got nine happy years with your family. I got one."

"Neville, I know there are things you've gone through and are still going through that I will never understand. But I understand partly and I promise that I will always be there to help anytime you need me."

He squeezed my hand. "Thank you. And I'm sorry."

"For what?" I asked as we caught up to his grandmother inside the elevator. She pressed the button for the sixth floor.

"For implying that what happened to your family isn't as bad as what happened to mine. It's terrible about your mum, it really is."

"I didn't get that implication at all," I said, half smiling.

Neville nodded and seemed slightly relieved.

We reached the door to the ward where the mentally altered and mentally ill patients were.

"Now, before we go in," Neville's grandmother said, turning to face us at the doors. "Luna, I'd just like to warn you that Alice and Frank, well, they're very dependent on others, I guess is the best way to put it. They have basically reverted back to childhood mannerisms. They can't comprehend or understand much, if anything at all."

I glanced at Neville. "I understand."

"I've seen other of our relatives lose patience with them," she continued. "It's frustrating for them to see Alice and Frank like this."

"I understand," I said again. "It must be difficult."

She nodded and pushed open the door. Neville and I followed her to the other end of the ward, where there were curtains set up, most likely for our privacy. Neville's grandmother pushed aside the curtains. I couldn't see over her shoulder, but I heard her address Neville's parents.

"Hello, Frank, Alice," she said cheerily. It sounded like she was using every ounce of strength to sound happy. "Merry Christmas. Neville and I brought you a little something."

His grandmother moved out of the way and Neville dropped my hand and stepped forward. I followed him and my heart almost broke when I saw Neville place the poinsettia on the bedside table between two beds, then bend down and kiss first his mum, then his dad on the cheek.

Neville's mum smiled and began swatting at the plant leaves while his dad stared at the ceiling, his face blank.

I hardly noticed Neville return to my side. He took my hand and led me to the chairs in between the beds. His grandmother took a seat at the end of Mr. Longbottom's bed.

"Mum," Neville said, touching her knee. She stared at him and smiled vacantly. "This is Luna; she's my girlfriend."

I leaned forward in my seat. "Hello, Mrs. Longbottom," I said with a smile.

"I think it helps to talk to them," Neville whispered to me. "The nurses seem to think they can understand bits and pieces of things. Not everything, and they can't always respond, but they think they can sometimes understand."

I smiled before turning my attention back to his mum. "It's lovely to meet you. You have a wonderful son. His grandmother's doing an excellent job of raising him." I gently reached out and after a brief hesitation, patted her knee.

She looked at me vacantly. She was biting her lip and looking nervous. It was probably because I was an unfamiliar face. Even though she and her husband couldn't recognize Neville anymore, he visited regularly, and they probably managed to recognize him from his visits.

Suddenly, Neville's mother smiled. She leaned over and opened the bedside table drawer. She rummaged through it and pulled out a small, gold Christmas ornament. The shiny, round ornament glittered in the fluorescent lights. She held it out to me happily.

"Where did you get that, Alice dear?" Neville's grandmother asked.

Neville's mother turned her head towards the curtains and stared as if she were looking through them.

"The Christmas tree in the corner of the ward," Neville said. "I noticed it when we came in."

"Ah, well maybe we should put it back, Alice, don't you think?" Neville's grandmother plastered a smile onto her face.

Neville's mother turned back to me and held out the ornament once again. I hesitantly took it. "Thank you," I said quietly.

"You can put it back on the tree when we leave," Neville whispered.

"If you don't mind, I think I'm going to keep it," I whispered back, sticking the ornament in my pocket. "I think it's a sign that your mother likes me, even if she doesn't quite understand completely who I am."

Neville beamed at me and rested his forehead against mine. "You're amazing," he whispered.

I closed my eyes and sighed with happiness.

Neville took me over to his dad's bed next. His dad tore his eyes away from the ceiling to stare at me.

"Hello," I said quietly. "I'm Luna Lovegood, your son's girlfriend. It's lovetly to meet you." Neville's dad picked up a piece of my hair and stared at it with a vague smile. He held it by the end and wiggled it up and down. He seemed to be enjoying himself, and I let out a small giggle. Neville let out a small laugh as well.

"He likes you too," Neville whispered.

"I'm glad," I answered.

We stayed with Neville's parents for another hour before his grandmother announced that it was time to go.

As we walked around the curtains, Neville stopped walking for a split second. I saw why a moment later. Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting by a bed that was occupied by Gilderoy Lockhart. He had taught at Hogwarts during my first year, but I had heard his own memory charm backfired. I wasn't sure why they were visiting him though. I never got the imperession that they liked him all that much, at least Harry and Ron anyway.

"I'm not ready to talk to them," Neville hissed in my ear. "They don't know about my parents and they're going to ask questions."

I opened my mouth to answer, but we had already been spotted. I bit my lip, wondering what was going to happen and how Neville was going to handle it.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Sorry that this chapter is shorter than most of the other ones, but I'm not sure yet if I want to write more about their Christmas vacation or just have them go back to Hogwarts. Plus, I thought I ended this chapter in a nice spot, so that's what ended up happening. :) Don't forget to review!**

**I don't own Harry Potter. **

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><p>"Neville! Luna!" Ron called, waving at us. I glanced at Neville. He looked nervous. I took his hand and squeezed it. "It's us!" Ron continued. "Have you seen? Lockhart's here! Who have you been visiting?" He glanced back towards the way we had come, but thankfully the curtain was there, blocking his vision.<p>

"Have you just been visiting your dad?" I asked, trying to get off the subject of why Neville and I were here. "Hermione mentioned his injury on the train home the other day." I tilted my head towards Hermione and smiled a small smile.

"Yeah, he's going to be fine," Ron answered with a grin. "Thankfully Harry saw it before-," Ron stopped when Harry shook his head slightly.

"Friends of yours, Neville dear?" asked Neville's grandmother, coming up behind us.

Neville was blushing crazily and he nodded his head as he stared down at his feet.

"Ah, yes, I know who you are of course," Neville's grandmother shook Harry's hand. "Neville speaks very highly of you."

"Thanks," Harry said quietly.

"And you are clearly a Weasley," Neville's grandmother continued, shaking Ron's hand. "And you're Hermione Granger."

"Yes," Hermione said with a smile. She sounded surprised that Neville's grandmother knew who she was.

"Neville's told me all about you," she explained, as if reading Hermione's thoughts. "Helped him out of a few sticky spots, haven't you? He's a good boy." She gave Neville a half smile and squeezed his shoulder. "But he hasn't got his father's talent I'm afraid to say." She jerked her head back towards the closed off beds.

Neville's face turned an even deeper red and I heard him inhale and hold his breath. "Breathe," I told him. "It's quite necessary unless you want to pass out from lack of oxygen."

"I think that sounds good right now," he whispered.

I was about to answer, but Ron was talking and anyway, it might be best of I talk to Neville about this later; when we're away from here.

"What?" Ron was asking. "Is that your _dad _down there, Neville?"

"You haven't told your friends about your parents?" Neville's grandmother asked.

Neville looked up at the ceiling and shook his head. "No," he whispered.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of!" His grandmother adjusted her hat. "You should be proud, Neville, _proud_! They didn't give their health and sanity so their only son would be ashamed of them."

"I'm not ashamed." Neville's voice was faint, but defiant.

Ron was trying to glance down to the other side of the ward again. I shifted over slightly to try and discreetly block his view. The curtain was still in the way, but I felt uncomfortable for Neville.

"My son and his wife," Neville's grandmother was saying to the others, "were tortured into insanity by You-Know-Who and his followers."

Hermione clapped a hand over her mouth and her eyes widened in shock. Harry looked down at his feet and Ron stopped trying to look over my shoulder and instead slumped into his chair, looking embarrassed.

"They were very highly gifted, the pair of them," Neville's grandmother continued. "I—what is it, Alice?"

Neville and I turned. I felt everyone's eyes on us as Neville's mum approached us, a small smile on her face, and her eyes vacant. I imagine they were once very pretty and full of life. It was sickening what You-Know-Who and his followers could do to people without even a second glance.

Alice took Neville's hand and held it palm up. She smiled a little wider and dropped a bubble come wrapper into his hand. Neville closed his fingers around it and she patted them happily.

"Again?" Neville's grandmother asked. "Well, in any case, it's very nice, Alice dear."

"Thanks, Mum," Neville said quietly.

Neville's mum turned her eyes on me and looked at me unblinkingly. Somehow, I knew what she was asking. "Yes, I have it right here." I reached into my pocket and pulled out the Christmas ornament. Neville's mother smiled and clapped her hands together before walking away unsteadily back towards her bed, humming quietly to herself.

"Well, we'd better get back," Neville's grandmother finally said. Neville looked relieved. Harry, Ron and Hermione were staring at Neville in horror and concern. "It was nice to have met you all. Luna, dear, you don't have to keep that ornament." She pointed at the tree in the corner.

"Oh, no, I'd like to keep it."

"If you want," she shrugged.

"Neville, you have enough of those wrappers. She's given you enough of them to wallpaper your bedroom. Just toss that one in the trash." She turned and headed for the doors. Neville and I followed her, but I saw Neville slip the wrapper into his pocket. When he saw me looking, he started to turn red again.

"You can never have too many bubble gum wrappers," I said with a smile. "Maybe you _should _consider wallpapering your room with them. It might look very nice."

Neville smiled. "I don't know if Gran would like that. I keep them all in a special box in my closet."

"How lovely," I said. "I think I'm going to put my ornament in a special spot near the top of our Christmas tree. I think it will look nice near the top."

"So do I," Neville said.

We were quiet for a minute. I finally said what I had been thinking earlier. "Neville, maybe it's not such a bad thing that other people know. I mean, I don't think they'll spread it around school."

"I don't think they will either," Neville said, "but it's just that-," he paused and took a breath. "It's hard to talk about and not everyone understands. Some people are sympathetic and feel bad, but they don't truly understand what it's like. Plus, I don't want people to treat me like I'm the diseased or mentally unstable one. I don't have anything contagious. Then there are people who walk on eggshells around me as if anything they say might hurt me or set me off into a fit of tears."

"And on top of all that, it would be hard to have to tell the story over and over again to anyone who asked."

"Exactly," he said. "It's not that I'm ashamed of my parents."

"I didn't think you were," I answered as we stepped back out into the street. "I understand. I don't talk about my mum much either. I talk about her to you and dad, but a few other people know about her. I told Harry at the beginning of the year. I find him to be a very trustworthy person." I smiled warmly at him.

He nodded. "I've known Harry, Ron and Hermione for five years. I've been in the same dorm with Harry and Ron for those five years. I would have told them myself when I was ready. Ginny, too. I didn't want them to find out like this."

"I know," I said, "but maybe the truth was just ready to come out and it happened like this to make it easier on you. Not that this was easy either, but now you don't have to think about exactly how and when to tell them."

"Good point," Neville said, looking at me and blinking. "How is it that you always think of the things that I never think of?"

"I'm not sure, Neville," I shrugged. "But it's not that hard to do. You just need to open your mind to things."

"Are you calling me closed minded?" he teased.

"No, more like half open, half closed," I shrugged. Neville laughed for the first time all day, a sound that I loved.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I had a lot of trouble with this chapter, until I got to the end at least, but I hope it doesn't disappoint. Thanks for all of the reviews and for adding this story to alerts and favorite lists! :)**

**Don't forget to leave a review telling me what you think! They really make my day.**

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><p>The remainder of my Christmas break passed by uneventfully. I kept in touch with Neville through letters, but we didn't get to see each other again. I kept myself occupied, though. I worked in the garden with dad, read, drew, and repainted my bedroom that coral color I had been thinking about.<p>

I always looked forward to getting letters from Neville. We had a sort of system going where I would receive a letter from him and answer him right away, but he would wait until the next morning to answer my letter. This way, we would each receive one letter from each other a day. I had never written so many letters to someone before.

I wrote to Ginny a few times as well. She assured me that her dad was fine and that he was back at home now. She had actually written a letter to me first the day after Christmas. Apparently, she had found out about me and Neville through Hermione and couldn't contain her excitement until she saw me in person next week.

"_I KNEW IT,_" was the first sentence of the note, capital letters and all. She had written that she had known that it wouldn't be long until Neville and I would be a couple and that we were officially the cutest couple she had ever seen. I think she might have been exaggerating and I told her so when I wrote her back. She said I was just being modest.

By the end of the holidays, I was rather excited about returning to school. I had the DA to look forward to once again and Harry's promise to teach us the patronus charm was echoing in my head. I couldn't wait.

Naturally, I couldn't wait to see Neville and the others again as well. Writing letters simply wasn't the same as seeing someone in person, as much as I did love to write. The only part about going back to school that I wasn't looking forward to was seeing Umbridge and finding out what other strange decrees she had thought up.

On the last night of Christmas break, I slid the letter I had gotten from Neville a few hours ago into the box on my desk. I had been saving every single one of his letters. This way, I could reread them whenever I wanted to. There was no doubt that they would make me smile if I reread them. I planned to save them forever, or at least until there ever came a time where Neville and I no longer spoke to each other. I hoped that wouldn't happen, though.

Once I was finally on the train to Hogwarts, I chose the last compartment, which was luckily empty. In our letters, Neville and I had decided to meet in the very last compartment once we got on the train. Apparently I had gotten there first.

As soon as I had sat down, the door was flung open. I looked up in surprise to see Ginny standing there. She squealed and flung herself into the seat next to me, tucking her legs under her. "I can't believe it," she said, grabbing my arm. She jumped up again and began dancing around the compartment.

"Ginny, what exactly are you doing?" I asked with a small laugh.

"I'm happy dancing," she answered. "Come on, happy dance with me." She grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. I didn't know what to do so I sort of jumped up and down a few times.

"That wasn't happy dancing," Ginny said, bouncing around. "You didn't look happy. You just looked awkward."

"Why exactly are we happy dancing?" I asked, sitting down again.

"Because of you and Neville!" she asked. "You are happy about that, aren't you?"

"Of course I am, but we've been dating for almost three weeks. The initial excitement has kind of worn off. Not that I'm not still excited of course." I relaxed into my seat and pulled out the sketchbook from Harry. I hadn't gotten a chance to use it yet, but I planned to right now.

"Is that from Harry?" Ginny asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"He asked me what he should get you," she said with a smile. "I knew you liked to draw so that's what I suggested."

"That's what I thought," I said, smiling back.

"So technically I got you two gifts," Ginny joked. "Harry just signed his name on it."

I giggled. "Well thank you for giving him the idea and I'll thank him for the actual gift when I see him."

"So," Ginny said after a moment, "where is Neville?"

The train had just begun to move and I glanced at the door. "He should be here soon. We agreed to meet here in the last compartment."

I started drawing something easy on the first page of the sketchbook. It was a daisy, my favorite flower.

Finally, the door opened and Neville entered the compartment. Ginny squealed again and hugged him.

"Are you going to happy dance again?" I asked, continuing to draw one of the petals on my daisy.

"No, I don't remember the exact steps to the dance anyway," she shrugged.

"Don't you just make it up as you go?" I asked.

"Happy dance?" Neville asked before Ginny could answer.

"Yes, Ginny is very excited that we're dating now," I answered as Neville sat next to me.

"Of course," Neville said with a smile. He turned to me. "What are you drawing?"

"A daisy," I answered. "I wanted to start with something simple."

"That doesn't look simple," Neville said. "I mean, you have so much detail and it's just so perfect. If I tried to draw a daisy, it would be scrawny and uneven and just awful."

I laughed. "This isn't perfect. It's just a messy sketch that I'm doing on a moving train. It's nothing spectacular."

"You're talented, Luna," Neville insisted, kissing my temple.

"Where's my compliment?" Ginny joked.

"Why don't you go ask Michael for one?" Neville said, joking back.

"Why aren't you sitting with him anyway?" I asked.

"You don't like my company?" Ginny asked. "I'm offended."

"No it's not that," I said quickly. "I was just wondering."

"Well," Ginny said, "He's been acting rather annoying lately."

"Annoying how?" Neville asked.

"He keeps being a sore loser whenever Gryffindor beats Ravenclaw in Quidditch. I mean, I can understand that he's disappointed, but he always complains to me about it and gets moody with me after we win a match."

"How silly," I answered. "He shouldn't be angry with you that Gryffindor won."

"Exactly," Ginny answered. "I mean, you're in Ravenclaw and you don't get angry when you lose."

I nodded. "I'm not the competitive type. Of course, it's very nice when Ravenclaw does win, but I don't let it get in the way of other things."

"That's how it should be," Ginny sniffed, taking out a textbook and a quill. "Last minute homework," she added. "I didn't get much time to do it over the break."

"How is your father doing?" Neville asked.

"He's fine now," she answered seriously.

"Good," Neville answered. "That must have been a horrible start to the Christmas holidays."

"Definitely," Ginny agreed. "St. Mungo's was exactly where I wanted to be on Christmas day."

"Luna and I were at St. Mungo's too," Neville said, glancing at me. I looked at him. Was he going to tell Ginny about his parents?

"Ron told me he saw you. Is everything okay with your family?" Ginny asked.

"Well, nothing bad has happened recently," Neville said slowly.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.

Neville took a deep breath. "My gran and I always go to visit my parents and I invited Luna along with us this time."

"What happened to them?" Ginny whispered.

"They were tortured into insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange and a group of other Death Eaters."

"Oh Neville," Ginny's eyes widened.

"Luna was the first person I told and I only told her a few months ago. Harry, Ron and Hermione found out accidentally when they saw us at the hospital. Luna pointed out that it might not be a bad idea to let people know. You're one of my closest friends, so I thought you should be one of the people that knew."

"I won't tell anyone else," she said quietly. "I'm sorry Neville."

"I like being in the DA," Neville said, "because it makes me think that by learning how to defend myself, I'm making them proud."

"Of course you are," I said, "but I've already said that you've already made them proud just by being you."

"Thanks, Luna," Neville smiled. I rested my head on his shoulder and continued to draw. He leaned his head against mine and we sat in silence. Ginny did her homework, I drew, and Neville looked out the window and occasionally watched me draw.

Finally, we reached Hogwarts and we rode in the carriages back to the school. We returned just in time for dinner. I was starving. I really hoped there would be pudding.

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><p>The next DA meeting was held that Thursday night. Neville and I walked to the Room of Requirement together, holding hands and talking excitedly about the patronus charms.<p>

"I hope I'll be able to do one," Neville mumbled.

"Hermione says they're difficult magic, but I'm sure we'll be able to do it with Harry's help."

"What if it takes me forever like it did with the disarming spell? That spell was easy and it took me a while to get it right. How am I ever going to learn such a difficult spell?"

"Sometimes," I said, "things are easy for some that are difficult for others. Maybe you'll find patronus charms to be really easy."

"Hopefully," Neville responded.

We reached the Room of Requirement and half an hour later, the room was filled with white, wispy, glowing shapes of light.

Ginny was actually the first of us to get her patronus to take on an actual shape. Most of us were spouting formless mist from our wands, but all of a sudden, a horse erupted from Ginny's wand and galloped in circles around her.

"Fantastic!" Harry cried, excited that someone had made progress. He walked around the room as more and more people got the hang of the charm. "Luna, let's see," he said.

I bit my lip, thinking of the happiest memory I had. I could think of two. One was a time that I spent with my mother. I was about seven and my father was on a trip searching for unusual creatures, which left me alone with my mother for a week. We sat in front of the fire, drinking hot chocolate and she was telling me stories about her time at Hogwarts. I had always been close to my mother before she died, but that night was the night I had felt the absolute closest to her.

The other memory I had was the night Neville asked me to be his girlfriend and we had first kissed. I decided to focus on both memories. I closed my eyes and pictured my mother and I in front of the fire. After a few seconds, I pictured Neville and I in the greenhouse under the mistletoe.

"Expecto Patronum," I said. A mist shot out of my wand and almost instantly took the shape of a rabbit. It hopped around me and I giggled, watching it until it vanished.

"Good, Luna!" Harry said. He turned to look at Neville, whose wand was emitting little puffs of misty light.

"I'm trying, Harry," he said.

"I know," Harry answered, putting a hand on Neville's shoulder. "What memory were you using? If you don't mind my asking."

"It was actually the day I showed signs of magic," Neville said. "Gran uses the phrase 'late bloomer' because I didn't start showing signs until I was nearly eight. We thought I was going to be a Squib. I was ecstatic because I was able to do magic and I could be just as amazing as my parents."

Harry was nodding. "That's good, but I think you might need something stronger than that. I know you were young, but do you have any memories with your parents from before they, well, before it happened?"

Neville bit his lip in thought. "There might be one, but I can't exactly remember too well."

"Try," Harry said. "Let the memory take up your entire brain."

Neville closed his eyes and inhaled through his nose. "Expecto Patronum."

Mist came out of his wand again, but lingered in the air for a little longer than normal. It also seemed to almost take the shape of something instead of being completely formless.

"Almost there, Neville," Harry said encouragingly. "Try another memory. A really clear one where you were extremely happy."

Neville glanced at me and smiled. "I have one."

"Good, good," Harry said. "Now, like I said before, concentrate on that one memory very hard. Let it be the only thing in your mind."

Neville closed his eyes again and uttered the spell. This time it worked and his patronus took the shape of a kangaroo. It hopped a few feet forward before fading away.

"Ah, sorry," Neville said. "I was so surprised, I forgot about the memory."

"No, that's okay, Neville. You did great!" Harry patted Neville on the back and moved on to help someone else.

Suddenly, I recognized Dobby the house elf running across the room towards Harry. His ears were flapping as he ran and his eyes looked larger than normal. "Harry Potter sir," he squeaked.

"What is it Dobby?" Harry asked. He seemed to have sensed the elf's nervousness. The rest of the room soon caught on that something wasn't right and fell silent. I moved closer to Neville and he took my hand.

"Dobby has come to warn Harry Potter and the rest of his friends that she—she-,"

"She what?" Harry asked. "Who is she?"

"She is coming," Dobby answered. "_Her_."

"Are you talking about Umbridge?" Harry asked.

Dobby made a squeaking sound and nodded, the tips of his ears hitting against his head.

There was a stunned silence. I almost wanted to laugh out of disbelief. She had found out.

"What are you waiting for?" Harry finally asked. "Run!"

Everyone moved at once towards the door, but nobody made it out into the hallway. Umbridge was standing right outside the door, the entire Inquisitorial Squad behind her.

We had been found and there was only one way that could have happened. Someone must have told Umbridge. I wondered who it could have possibly been. Who, out of the members at least, would have ever wanted to put a stop to the DA?


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Only a few more days until Deathly Hallows Part 2! Who else is as excited as I am to see Neville cut off Nagini's head and for Mrs. Weasley to kill Bellatrix? :)**

* * *

><p>We found out who had told Umbridge about the DA at breakfast the next morning. It was Cho Chang's friend, Marietta. The only thing giving her away was that her face was covered with large red marks that spelled out "sneak." She was trying to hide it, but she was unsuccessful.<p>

The rest of the DA had received detention in the great hall that night, even Harry. It was almost a relief because I had been half expecting something worse. Dumbledore had left the school last night and been replaced by Umbridge. I'm not even sure that _I_ can think of the bright side to this situation, except for the fact that we've never kept a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for more than a year. Maybe Umbridge would be gone by June.

"Ready for detention?" Neville asked later that night after dinner. The DA had to wait outside the great hall while Umbridge "prepared the room for our detention."

"Well, not really," I answered. "But I kind of wish we could hurry up and get going already."

"Why?" Neville asked. "I've been dreading this detention since we were caught last night. Umbridge can take all the time she wants setting up the great hall because I'm not looking forward to it at all."

"Yes, that makes sense, but the sooner we get in there, the sooner it'll be over and we'll be relieved, but if we just keep postponing it, the longer we'll be feeling anxious. I just want to get it over with."

Neville never got the chance to answer me because Umbridge threw open the doors and smiled at all of us. Of course she had a reason to smile. She was thrilled that she had caught us all doing something she didn't like and that we were going to be punished for it.

"You may all go inside and find a seat," she said sweetly.

Nobody looked at her as we shuffled into the room and the people who did look at her were glaring. I just stared straight ahead and so did Neville. We chose seats next to each other, but the seats were spaced so far apart, it was like we weren't even near each other at all.

After a moment, Umbridge walked to the front of the room, her pink shoes clicking against the floor, the only sound echoing in the room.

When she reached the front, she sat down in Dumbledore's chair, causing a few people like Neville and Harry to glare at her even more. She poured herself a cup of tea as she stared out at all of use. I waited and brushed my quill over my desk impatiently.

Finally, Umbridge spoke in her high pitched voice. "You will be writing the words 'I must not disobey the rules'."

I sighed and began to write. I hadn't forgotten how terrible and painful the last detention had been and this was only going to make the cuts on my hand worse.

After a few minutes, I glanced over at Neville. He wasn't looking down at his paper like I had expected, but looking at my hand as he wrote his lines. I gave him a small, comforting smile to let him know that I was okay.

"Eyes on your own paper," Umbridge chirped from the front of the room. When I looked up, she had her eyes on me and Neville. Honestly, did she think we were cheating or something? There was no way to cheat. Everyone was writing the same thing.

Umbridge made us write lines for three hours. By the time we were finally done, my hand hurt worse than it had the last time. Everyone was silent as we left the great hall. Marietta was waiting out by the stairs, most likely waiting for Cho. I noticed Cho walk right past her as if she wasn't even there.

"Is everything alright, Cho?" I asked.

"I'm not speaking to Marietta at the moment," she answered with a sniff. She sounded stuffy. "Haven't been since last night when she came back into the dorm with her face the way it is. I obviously knew what had happened right away."

"The DA was something to look forward to," Neville said sadly, appearing at my side.

"I know," Cho nodded. "And now it's ruined. Marietta didn't even want to come to the DA meetings, but I told her to."

"It's not your fault," I said. "She's the one who told Umbridge. Even if she didn't like the meetings, that's no reason to go tell on us."

"Yeah, although why anyone would not like the DA is beyond me," Neville said. "I learned so much. I would have never learned any of that if it weren't for Harry."

"Harry's a good teacher," Cho nodded. We reached the Ravenclaw common room and Cho disappeared inside with a sad wave. I turned back to Neville, who picked up my red and bleeding hand.

"How can she do this?" he asked. "This can't be legal."

"I don't know, but she's doing it anyway," I shrugged.

"Maybe it was silly of us to think we could stop her," Neville mumbled.

"No, it wasn't silly," I answered quickly. "We had a shot at it-,"

"Until she found out," Neville answered. "It's over now. She beat us."

"Not really," I answered. "She may have found out, but we've already learned loads of defensive spells. Even ones that are considered advanced. We learned most, if not all, of what she wasn't teaching us. We d id what she was preventing us from doing. All she did was prevent us from learning even more."

"I guess so," Neville answered, "but I'm going to miss the DA. It was fun."

"It was like a large family or a large group of friends," I answered.

"Exactly," Neville nodded. "Well, I guess I'd better head back."

"Yes, you'd better," I said. "I don't want you getting another detention because of me."

"It'd be worth it, though," Neville said with a small smile.

I smiled back as he kissed me goodnight. I never knew that I was worth getting a detention for. I rather liked knowing that Neville thought so.

* * *

><p>The next morning, an owl delivered me the newest edition of the Quibbler. Most students got the Daily Prophet, but I never read that paper much. Dad always said they print a load of rubbish, and from what I've been hearing, they certainly have been doing just that lately.<p>

I flipped open the magazine and began to read as I ate my toast. Suddenly, I heard a gasp from across the table. It was Cho Chang and she was staring at the front page of the newspaper. I looked around and noticed a lot of people doing the same.

"Cho, what's wrong?" I asked. "Did a Nargle get inside your head?"

She shook her head and passed the paper over to me. "Look," she said.

"Oh, I don't read-,"

"Just look, it's terrible," she said quietly.

I took the paper and looked down at it. Ten pictures covered the front page of ten very frightening looking people. The headline read _Mass Breakout from Azkaban_. Cho was right, this _was_ terrible. I scanned the pictures and my eyes fell on a caption under one of them. _Bellatrix Lestrange_ the caption read, _one of the Death Eaters responsible for the torture of Aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom._

Oh dear. This wasn't good. I immediately looked up and scanned the room for Neville. He was just standing up at the Gryffindor table and crumpling up the newspaper. He tossed it to the floor and began heading for the exit. Quickly, I stood up and followed him.

"Neville," I called as I reached the door. He was still a little ways ahead of me, climbing the front staircase. I hurried to catch up to him. "Neville, wait." I finally reached him and grabbed his arm. He spun around and stared at me, his eyes watery and rimmed with red.

"She escaped," he said hoarsely. "She's out there right now, free to torture someone else."

"I know," I whispered, "I saw."

Neville sank down onto the steps and buried his head in his arms. I sat next to him holding his hand and resting my head on his shoulder. This was one of those times where it's best to keep quiet and not say anything and honestly, I'm glad about that, because I didn't think I would be able to say anything to make this better.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: So who saw Deathly Hallows Part 2 over the weekend? I was beyond happy that the movie was shipping Neville and Luna. I'm honestly not sure how they didn't end up together in the books. **

**Also, Neville was completely awesome in this movie and I thought it was really great overall so if you haven't seen it yet, then you should! :)**

* * *

><p>I sat on the steps with Neville until breakfast ended and we had to get up if we wanted to avoid being trampled. I took his hand and dragged him up to the owlery. I would have brought him to the greenhouses, but there would be people arriving in there for classes and we needed somewhere private.<p>

"It's because of him that she escaped," Neville whispered, staring out the window. "Because of him, they all escaped."

"You-Know-Who," I said.

Neville nodded. "I thought that she wouldn't be able to touch anyone ever again once she was put in Azkaban. I thought she'd be in there forever."

"She should be," I said, joining him at the window. "She really deserves it."

Neville nodded. "She deserves the worst."

"A detention from Professor Umbridge," I said with a tiny smile.

"Worse than that," Neville answered and I was surprised to see he actually had a small smile on his face as well. "She deserves to spend her whole life in Azkaban, which was the plan until today at least." The little smile was on his face disappeared.

"She deserves both a detention and a lifetime sentence in Azkaban," I decided.

"I like the sound of that," Neville said, another small smile appearing on his face.

"So do I," I answered.

We continued to stare out the window for a few more minutes until Neville glanced at his watch. "I've got to go," he said quickly.

"Yes, classes should be starting any minute," I said.

"I've got Defense Against the Dark Arts first," Neville said, picking up his bag, grabbing my hand, and rushing towards the door.

"You certainly don't want to be late for that," I agreed as we hurried down the stairs.

When we reached the hallway where we had to go our separate ways, I grabbed Neville's arm to stop him. "It'll be okay, Neville."

He looked at me and made an odd movement that looked like a half shrug, half nod before he headed off down the hallway.

That night, I noticed Neville wasn't at dinner, so I went looking for him. I checked the owlery, the greenhouses, and even took a chance with walking down to the thestrals. He wasn't in any of the places that I looked.

I stopped in the entrance hall and thought. Where could he be? He could be in his dormitory, the only place I wouldn't be able to check. I hadn't gotten the feeling that he was in there, but it seemed as if that's where he was. There wasn't anywhere else that he could be.

I headed back into dinner, but I wasn't feeling that hungry anymore. I was worried about Neville. He was most likely even more upset then he had let on this morning.

I walked over to the Gryffindor and stood behind Ron and Harry. Ginny and Hermione were sitting across from them and they looked up and saw me standing there.

"Luna!" Ginny said. "Would you like to sit down?"

"No, thank you," I said. "I'm-,"

"Looking for Neville, of course," Hermione said. Was it that obvious? It probably was. He was my boyfriend after all. It would make sense that I was looking for him.

"Yes, have you seen him? I've been looking all over and I'm beginning to get quite worried."

"He didn't tell you anything?" Ron asked.

"Of course not, Ron, he's probably upset about the breakout," she hissed.

"Well, he wasn't in the dorms or the common room when we came down to dinner," Harry said.

"Have you checked the greenhouses?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, I checked everywhere," I said, looking at the ground. I stared at it unblinkingly as I thought. If I were Neville, where would I go? I thought about his current situation and how he must be feeling. Suddenly, I had an idea. I gasped and looked up. "I think I might know where he is." I didn't wait for an answer as I turned and hurried back out of the room.

I reached the seventh floor fairly quickly. I was almost certain Neville would be in the Room of Requirement. Nobody from the DA had been back there since we had gotten caught. We weren't supposed to. Umbridge was extremely paranoid that we would try to reform the DA, even though before he left, Dumbledore had pretended that it was his idea. She and her inquisitorial squad had actually been doing random checks on the room to make sure we weren't in it.

I let myself into the room quietly. I had been right in thinking Neville was here. He was standing on the other side of the room with his back to me and he hadn't even noticed me come in. I stood and watched him for a moment.

"Reducto," he said, pointing his wand at one of the practice dummies we had used during DA meetings. All that happened was that the dummy's head fell off.

I accidentally let out a small giggle. I couldn't help it; it had been a little bit funny.

Neville jumped and spun around. "It's not funny," he said, looking miserable.

"No, I suppose not," I said seriously.

"I can't get the spell right, no matter how many times I try."

"What are you doing in here, Neville?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm practicing."

"I know, but why?"

"It makes me feel better," he said quietly, glancing over to one of the mirrors standing in the room. It still had newspaper clippings and pictures stuck to it. One of them was a picture of the original Order of the Phoenix, which included his parents.

I crossed the room and stood next to him. "Bellatrix would look nice reduced to a pile of dust," I said.

"It's not funny," Neville said again, his voice tense.

"I wasn't trying to be funny. I was being serious."

Neville didn't answer. He took a breath and pointed his wand at the practice dummy again. "Reducto!" This time, only an arm fell off.

"Do you want me to help?"

"No, Luna, I need to do this alone."

"You don't have to do anything alone," I said. "I want to help, Neville. I know this is a difficult time, Neville and I—,"

"If you're going to say you know how I feel, then don't," Neville snapped. I took a small step back and blinked as Neville continued. "You don't know how I feel. Nobody knows what it's like. I've said this before that you have one parent and don't tell me again that I have my gran. I know I do, but it's not the same."

"No, it's not," I agreed, but Neville kept going, his voice rising.

"My parents don't know me. I have to go visit them all the time and see them stare at me blankly as if I'm just part of the wall!"

"But you're-,"

"Maybe I am! I can't even do a reducing spell," Neville said. He was still staring at the practice dummy. He wouldn't even look at me.

"You're not," I said.

"Oh, stop," he snorted. "Not everything has a bright side. Sometimes things are terrible and they can't be made better or fixed and there isn't a single good thing about the situation."

I was at a loss for words. After a moment, I spoke again. "Neville, you're upset, maybe we should go-,"

"You're lucky," he continued angrily. "You're lucky your mother went nice and quick and easy and you don't have to see her and suffer from seeing her sitting in St. Mungo's day in and day out."

"Nice and quick and easy," I said in a whisper. "Yes, witnessing a cauldron blowing up and causing part of the ceiling to cave in on top of my mother sounds very easy." I turned and headed towards the door. "I have to go," I said, once I reached it. I paused for a moment. "And just so you know, I was going to say earlier that I really wanted to help you through this. You're right, I don't know how this feels, but I can imagine and no one should have to go through this alone. I wanted to help you, but you clearly don't want that." I left the room without a second glance back.

* * *

><p>Three days have gone by and I haven't spoken to Neville. This has a lot to do with the fact that I've hardly seen him. The fact that we were in different houses already guarantees us less time to see each other, but now I think we have been kind of avoiding each other for the past three days.<p>

After I had returned to my common room that night, I sat on my bed for a long time, thinking. I figured that Neville had been speaking out of anger, but it still didn't make what he said hurt any less.

And now, three days later, I haven't spoken to him and only seen him at meals, where I try not to look at him. I'm not sure if he's still angry at me or not. I think he might be, or else he would have tried to talk to me. I'm not sure, really.

I know that I haven't tried to talk to him because I think that if he is still angry, he needs some time to cool down. He also needs some time to get used to the idea of the breakout and clear his head. I just don't know how long that will take and I was nervous of another argument if I tried to talk to him again when he didn't want to talk. I had been so silly to try to find and talk to him when he needed some time alone. I felt that it was my fault that we had argued.

"Neville's a wreck. You need to talk to him," Ginny said one morning before Umbridge's class.

"No, I don't think I should talk to him just yet. I think he needs some time to calm down and get rid of his anger."

"Oh, he did that ages ago," Ginny snorted. "Seconds after your argument, actually."

"How would you know that?" I asked.

"Well, he's certainly not angry. He's been holed up in a corner of the common room every night. He doesn't talk much anymore and he's been slipping behind in his homework and in sleep too from the looks of it."

"He hasn't been sleeping?" I asked, concerned.

"Not from the looks of it. You haven't been close enough to see the circles under his eyes. You need to talk to him, Luna. He thinks you're mad at him."

"I'm not mad at him. I was just hurt by what he said."

"Which is understandable," Ginny nodded, "but you two need to have a talk and you need to tell him that."

I studied my notes from last class, seeing the words, but not comprehending them. They just seemed to float aimlessly in front of my eyes.

"I don't want another argument," I said quietly. "They aren't healthy."

"I agree wholeheartedly," Ginny laughed. "How about tomorrow you talk to him? That gives you a day to get your thoughts together and figure out what to say."

I nodded. "Okay, tomorrow."

"Promise me," Ginny said.

"I promise," I answered.

"He wants you back, Luna."

I smiled at this, even though part of my brain wondered how true of a statement it was. Did I really mean so much to him that he was losing sleep over this fight and slacking on homework? I guess I would find out tomorrow.

That night, I went on a nightly walk of the castle. I couldn't sleep and I didn't feel like lying in bed. I needed to be walking around. Walking around the castle at night wasn't really a good idea, but I was prepared to risk it. I had a specific destination in mind anyway.

I climbed the stairs to the Astronomy tower and sat down on the ground. I loved the Astronomy tower because it was one of the highest towers the castle had and it was open so that I could see the stars. Nobody knew that I liked to come up here to relax. I had a lot of spots at Hogwarts that no one knew about.

I lay flat on my back and looked at the night sky. There was a crescent moon tonight. My mum had always called them sideways smiles. I suppose they could be frowns, too, but I like to think of it as a smile.

I was so focused on the stars and the moon that I didn't hear the footsteps until they were too late. The door was thrown open and I jumped up in fright. Filch was standing there, smiling like crazy.

"Oh, hello," I said cheerily. "Have you seen the moon tonight?"

Filch ignorned me. "Student out of bed!" he said happily. He reached down and grabbed my arm. "You're coming with me. You're going to be in trouble now."

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To the headmistress's office," he answered. "She wanted extra security at night; had the feeling students were sneaking around."

"Ah, Miss Lovegood, isn't it?" Umbridge asked when I arrived in her office.

"Yes," I said, nodding.

"Now, tell me, Miss Lovegood, are you aware of the rules of this school?"

"Most of them, yes," I answered.

"I see," she answered. "Now, where was she, Argus?"

"Found her on the Astronomy tower."

"Ah," Umbridge said. "Now, Miss Lovegood, maybe you can tell me this. I received notice the other day that someone was in the Room of Requirement during dinner. I'm certain you know the rules regarding that room and members of an organization by the name of Dumbledore's Army?"

I nodded, but didn't speak.

"Yes, because if I do recall, you were a member of this organization, correct?"

"Yes, it is," I answered. I had a feeling what she was getting at.

"You seem to have a knack for both skipping dinner and wandering around the school after hours," she said. "You'll be receiving a detention for tonight's nightly wandering."

I looked at her, my face expressionless. I did have a tendency to walk around at night and skip meals, but she had only caught me doing each of those things one time. How could she say I had a knack for them?

"It was you in the Room of Requirement three nights ago, wasn't it?" Umbridge asked, smiling and leaning forward. I didn't move and continued to stare at her toad-like face.

I had been in the Room of Requirement and I didn't want to lie to her and say that I hadn't, but I also wasn't about to give Neville away. Plus, if I confessed now, she wouldn't suspect anyone else and Neville would be off the hook. I wouldn't mention him at all. If she asked why I had been in there, I would say I had been simply practicing my Charms homework.

"Well?" Umbridge leaned forward even more.

I took a breath. I was going to have to confess, or else she'd investigate this more.

"I-," I began, but I never got to finish my sentence because the office door banged open loudly. Umbridge gave a shriek of surprise and I turned in my seat. When I saw who it was, my mouth dropped open in surprise.


	15. Chapter 15

"It was me," Neville said. He was standing in the doorway, looking angry.

"Mr. Longbottom?" squeaked Umbridge. She was apparently still in shock from his abrupt entrance.

"Another student out of bed!" cried Filch, pointing at Neville.

"Yes, I know," Umbridge answered crossly and in a tone that suggested Filch was an idiot, which, I'm sorry to say, he kind of was. She took a breath and smiled. "Now, what were you saying, Mr. Longbottom?"

"I was the one in the Room of Requirement the other night," he said, stepping into the room.

"But I-," I began, but Neville cut me off.

"—warned me not to go," he said, glancing at me. "I didn't listen and I went anyway."

Umbridge looked positively thrilled. "What were you doing in the Room of Requirement? I expect you know that you are not supposed to be in there."

"I wasn't trying to reform Dumbledore's Army if that's what you're thinking," Neville said, "although I would if I could."

Umbridge was even angrier now. "You didn't answer my question. I asked what you were doing in that room, not what you weren't doing."

"I was just practicing."

"Practicing what?"

"Well, just things that will come up on my OWL's. I want to be well prepared." He crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows slightly.

Where on earth had he gotten the courage to talk to Umbridge like that?

Umbridge stood up and gripped the edge of her desk so hard, her knuckles were turning white. "Well, you're little extra practice session in addition to the fact that you are out of bed after hours has earned you two nights of detention. You will join Miss Lovegood tomorrow night for one of them and your second one will be held the night after. Both detentions will be at eight, here in my office. Do you both understand?"

"Yes," I said quietly.

"Mr. Longbottom?" Umbridge asked.

"Yes," he answered finally, his arms still crossed.

"You may go now," she said, sitting back in her chair.

I stood up and followed Neville from the room. We didn't talk until we were well away from her office.

"I would have told her I was in there with you," I said. "I was going to, actually. It's not fair that you had to get in more trouble."

"Luna, it's okay," Neville said. He stopped walking and looked at me.

"How did you know where I was?" I asked.

"Well, I couldn't sleep and I decided to take a walk when I heard Filch coming, so I hid and then I saw him dragging you to Umbridge's office."

"Ginny said it looked like you hadn't been sleeping," I said, frowning in worry.

Neville looked down and began dragging the toe of his shoe along the carpet in little circles. "I haven't," he said finally.

"Why not?" I asked.

"I haven't been sleeping because I feel terrible about how I treated you and what I said the other day. I've wanted to apologize ever since I said it, but I was afraid to say something. I thought you were too angry with me. I've missed you, Luna."

"I was more hurt than angry," I said honestly. "I realized that you had just spoken out of anger but I thought that you didn't want to talk to me because you needed time to clear your head so that's why I didn't talk to you first."

"I'm sorry, Luna. You're right. I was just upset about the Azkaban breakout, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you. You're the only person who always knows the right thing to say and I pushed you away right when I needed you the most."

"I think you did need some time alone," I said. "Sometimes being alone helps. I shouldn't have interrupted your alone time. I'm sorry."

"Luna," Neville said, putting his hands on my shoulders and I looked up into his eyes. "It's not you who should be apologizing. I'm the one who got angry and snapped at you and I said that terrible thing about your mother. I didn't really mean that, honestly."

"You were just angry," I whispered.

"I was, but that isn't an excuse for saying that. I just wish my parents didn't have to go through what they did. Sometimes I think it's harder for me then for them. They don't even know right from left anymore, but I have to live with knowing what happened to them and why."

"It's okay, Neville," I said quietly. "I may not completely understand your situation, but I know it must be difficult."

"I don't deserve you being so understanding," Neville said sadly. "Can't you just yell at me or something? You know, slap me and storm away down the hallway?"

"No, Neville, you must know by now that I'm not one for yelling or slapping," I said with a small smile.

Neville smiled a small smile in return and then paused for a few seconds. "Your mum," he whispered. "Part of the house collapsed?"

"Yes," I nodded. "We were on opposite sides of the room and the ceiling just over her head collapsed when the potion exploded. All I got were a few cuts and burns, but my mother wasn't so lucky. Everything just fell on her."

Without warning, tears came to my eyes. I'm not much of a crier in general and especially not in front of people, but this time I couldn't help it. I hated having to relive those memories. I thought of my mother often, but I tried to never really think about the day she had died. It still hurt too much.

"Luna," Neville whispered, pulling me into a hug. I buried my face into his shirt and closed my eyes, trying to even out my ragged, teary breathing. Neville was stroking my hair and I could hear his heartbeat in the silence. I found that it was calming me down.

"She would have liked you a lot," I said, turning my head upwards to look at him.

Neville backed up against the wall and slid to the ground, gently pulling me with him until I was sitting next to him with my head on his shoulder and our hands intertwined. "What would she say if she were here right now?" he asked.

"She would say 'Luna, dear, you shouldn't be crying. Let's turn that frown upside down,' and then she'd probably try to make me laugh. See, my mother hated to see anyone upset, especially me."

"So that's where you get it from," Neville said with a small chuckle.

"Get what from?" I asked. I was staring at our fingers; my small, pale ones against his strong, comforting ones.

"You don't like being upset or seeing other people upset," Neville answered.

"Yes, that's true," I said, trying to hold back a yawn.

Neville smiled and patted my shoulder twice. "Come on, let's get back to our dorms. We shouldn't be out here anyway. We don't want to get caught again."

I nodded and grabbed the hand that Neville had held out to help me up. We walked holding hands until the time came to split up.

"I really am sorry," Neville said again.

"I know you are," I said. "It's over now, though. It happened, you apologized, and I forgive you. Let's leave it at that, shall we? I don't think it will do to keep dwelling on it."

Neville looked relieved. "Yeah, just forget it ever happened," he said with a smile.

"Yes, that sounds like a rather lovely idea," I answered.

"I have to agree with you," Neville said happily.

I stood on my tiptoes, putting one hand on his shoulder and gave him a gentle kiss. Neville put his hand around my waist, preventing me from moving away.

When we finally broke apart, I squeezed his hand, smiled, and turned to go the rest of the way to my common room.

"Wait!" Neville yelled quickly.

"Yes?" I asked, turning around.

"The next Hogsmeade weekend is in a few weeks on Valentine's Day. Do you want to go with me? I know we spent some time together there once before, but I figured that this time it'll be official…" His voice trailed off and he looked nervous.

"Don't look so nervous, Neville. Of course I'll go with you."

Neville smiled. "Okay, great, cool. Well, I'll see you tomorrow!"

I smiled and nodded my head before turning around again. I continued to smile all the way back to my dorm.

* * *

><p>"Luna, can I talk to you for a minute?" Hermione said, coming up to me after breakfast the next morning. She looked very nervous about something. "Hi, Neville," she added quickly.<p>

"Hi Hermione, what's up?"

"I just had an idea, but I need Luna's help for it to work."

I glanced at Neville and smiled, tilting my head. "You go on ahead to your class, Neville."

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I'll wait if you want."

"No, go ahead," I answered, giving my head a small shake.

"Okay, I'll see you at lunch then."

I nodded and quickly kissed him goodbye. I watched him walk away until he turned the corner.

"You two seem happy," Hermione said with a smile. "Things are all fixed up between you now?"

"Oh, yes," I answered. "We agreed to put our argument behind us. Now, what did you want to talk about?"

Hermione bit her lip. "Well, have you ever heard of Rita Skeeter?"

"Rita Skeeter? She sounds vaguely familiar."

"She wrote for the Daily Prophet last year," Hermione answered.

"That's right," I nodded. "I heard that she's currently unemployed."

"Yes, she is," Hermione said, "but if my idea works, she'll get the chance to write one more article."

"Hermione, what does this have to do with me?" I asked.

"Oh, right, well as you know, the Daily Prophet isn't exactly printing the truth, especially when it comes to Harry."

"I've known that for a while," I said. "That's why I don't really read the prophet. I only read—,"

"—the Quibbler, yes," Hermione said excitedly. "This is where you come in. And your dad, too really, since he'll have to print it." She was speaking rather quickly now and wringing her hands. She took a breath. "I'm planning on asking Rita Skeeter to interview Harry. He'll give his own firsthand account on what's happening and if you and your dad agree, I was thinking we could publish it in the Quibbler."

"Oh, I think that's a lovely idea," I said happily. "I'm sure my father would be more than happy to publish the interview. I'll write him today and ask him if you'd like."

"That would be great," Hermione said, sighing with relief. "I have to write to Rita and ask her, but we'll have to meet somewhere in Hogsmeade to do it. I'll need you there as well. Is the Three Broomsticks okay?"

"Yes, but what time? I'm going to Hogsmeade with Neville on that day since it is Valentine 's Day and all."

"Of course," Hermione answered. "You could bring him along if you wanted, but let's say 12:30."

"12:30 in the Three Broomsticks," I repeated. "I'll be there."

When I saw Neville just before lunch, I explained to him what Hermione wanted and that I'd have to meet her in the Three Broomsticks during the next Hogsmeade trip.

"I'm sorry that it's going to take away from our day together, but I figured it's for a good cause. It's for Harry," I said.

"Yeah, and the Daily Prophet hasn't published a decent story in ages," Neville agreed. "Even the story about the breakout didn't give enough information. They never said anything about how or why it happened. They just chose to blame it on Sirius Black."

"I agree, Neville," I said, squeezing his hand. "You're not upset that I need to do this on our Hogsmeade date?"

"No, not at all," he shook his head. "It is for Harry, after all, like you said and—wait, did you say date?"

"Yes, that's what it is, isn't it?" I asked.

"Yeah, I suppose it is," Neville said, a grin spreading over his face.

"We are dating now so it only makes sense for our outings to be considered dates," I shrugged.

Neville grinned even wider. "It does make sense. Silly me."

"A Nargle must have gotten inside your head," I said with a shrug. It was as simple as that.

* * *

><p>"Alright, how about this," Neville said. "What is your favorite animal?"<p>

"Oh, that's such a tough one," I said with a small sigh.

"I know, that's why I asked."

It was Valentine's Day and Neville and I were sitting on a bench outside the Three Broomsticks, talking and people watching. I had a few more minutes before I had to go meet Hermione inside, but I didn't want to go in just yet. I preferred to wait outside. Sometimes the Three Broomsticks gets too loud and crowded for me. Plus, it was snowing lightly today and it was reminding me of my mother.

I adjusted my mitten-covered hands around my glass of gillywater and slowly blew a puff of air out of my mouth as I thought.

"I think my answer's going to have to be the same as to the favorite color question. I don't have one. I mean, if I'm going into a profession dealing with animals, it makes sense to love them all equally, doesn't it? I can't play favorites; that wouldn't be fair."

"I guess not," Neville chuckled, "but I don't think the animals will notice or care."

"Oh they will," I said seriously. "Animals have feelings just like people do. They're actually pretty similar to people in lots of ways."

"So you even like those Blast Ended Skrewts?" A smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth.

I giggled. "Those are one of the more challenging creatures to work with, but yes, I like them. They're unique and difficult to handle. It's a challenge is what I'm trying to say."

Neville was silent for a moment. "I would have thought you were going to say the thestrals were your favorite."

"I am quite fond of the thestrals," I said. "I've spent a lot of time with them in the past few years, but there are so many other interesting creatures and animals out there as well."

Neville was quiet again. It looked as if he didn't know what to say. "Luna, what happens if these creatures your dad writes about really aren't real?" He spoke quietly as if he were afraid I'd get angry at him.

"What do you mean, 'what happens'?" I asked. "Nothing will happen. My dad really believes some creatures exist and I trust him, but if it turns out he's wrong, then he's wrong and that's all. No harm done. That's why we travel to go looking for these creatures; to see if they exist. There are lots of undiscovered creatures out there and they all sound far-fetched at first. I'm sure that way back when, oh let's say dogs were discovered, they were considered strange, but now they are a very common animal."

"That's true," Neville said. "I guess that can be said about everything else as well. For example, the first people to see snow were probably very alarmed by cold bits of white falling on them and they must have sounded crazy trying to explain it to someone who hadn't yet seen snow."

"Yes and now snow is quite normal and un-alarming," I said with a small laugh.

"Definitely not alarming," Neville said quietly.

I leaned my head against his shoulder and swirled the straw around in my gillywater.

"I should probably get inside. Are you sure you don't want to come?" I stood up and took a step towards the door.

"I'm sure. I don't have a reason to be here. I'd just take up space."

"No, you wouldn't. I'm sure there would be some way that you'd end up contributing."

Neville smiled and shook his head. He gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Good luck and have fun."

I smiled and turned towards the door.

"Luna," Neville said.

I looked over my shoulder at him. "Yes, Neville?"

He paused and then shook his head. "I'll tell you when you're done in there."

"Okay, Neville, if you're sure."

"Yeah," he said quickly. "You go in and I'll meet you back here in an hour."

"Make sure you don't let the Nargles steal the idea away. Keep it locked tight in your brain," I advised him.

"Don't worry, it's not going anywhere," Neville answered with a smile. He gave me a wave and headed down the street towards Zonko's.

I watched him go before turning around and heading into the Three Broomsticks. I saw Hermione sitting at a corner table and I joined her.

"Rita should be here any moment," Hermione said excitedly. "I didn't tell her about the interview right out. I just told her to come. That way, she couldn't deny me right off. She'd have to turn up to see what I wanted."

"How did you even get her to come?" I asked.

"Oh, long story," Hermione said, waving her hand nonchalantly. "Where's Neville?"

"He thought he'd be out of place and a bother if he came, so he went to Zonko's and I'll be meeting up with him again later.

Before Hermione could respond, a blonde woman slid into the booth next to me. She looked a little disheveled and slightly out of breath. She adjusted her handbag on her lap. "So, spill it," she said to Hermione, not even looking at me. "Why did you ask me here?"

"You'll have to wait a little longer to find out. We're waiting for one more person to get here."

"You've kept me in the dark long enough," the woman, who had to be Rita, snapped.

"It won't be much longer," I chimed in.

"Who are you?" Rita finally noticed me and she stared down her nose into my face.

"Luna Lovegood," I said. I blinked at her and began absentmindedly chewing on my straw.

"Well," Rita turned back to Hermione. "When is this other person going to get here?"

"Soon," Hermione answered. "It's important that you stay and wait and hear me out. I've been worried that the plan was somehow going to go wrong."

"I'm sure that's the truth," Rita said with a cackling laugh.

"It is," I piped up. "We need a lot more of that at the moment. Truth, I mean."

"Which is why I've asked you here," Hermione added, looking at Rita. She pointed towards the door. "The wait is over, Rita. Harry's here and we can get started."


	16. Chapter 16

_"Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others, and the delight in the recognition."_ **–Alexander Smith**

* * *

><p>"I'm afraid I still don't get it," Rita said, as Harry stopped to talk to Hagrid, who was sitting at a table near the door.<p>

"You will," Hermione answered. She paused for a moment. "I wasn't expecting him for at least another thirty minutes. He had a date with Cho today." She frowned slightly.

"Oh, yes," I said, "I heard Cho talking about it. She seemed very excited. I wonder how it went."

"Not well if Harry got here this early." Hermione looked sympathetically in Harry's direction. When he finally looked up, she waved him over. "Harry, over here!" When he finally reached our table, she gestured for him to sit down. "You're early! I thought you were with Cho."

"We ended the date a little early," he answered. "Or she did, rather. I didn't want to talk about Cedric, so she-,"

"So who is this Cho girl?" Rita asked, looking interested.

"It's none of your business," Hermione said, speaking up before Harry could answer. Rita looked annoyed. I continued to swirl my straw around in my gillywater. "Anyway, Harry, you're going to have to talk about Cedric today after all."

Harry looked between me and Rita. I gave him a small smile. "Why are you two here anyway?" he asked. "What's going on?"

"Hermione didn't tell you?" I looked at him with wide eyes.

"You seem to be the only one little Miss Perfect's said anything to," Rita said with a roll of her eyes. She looked at Harry. "Your friend here was just about to tell me what was going on. Anyway, tell me about Cho. Is she a pretty girl?"

"One more word about Harry's love life and the deal's off," Hermione snapped.

"What deal? You just told me to turn up. You never mentioned a deal. One of these days..." Rita began. She shook her head and trailed off.

"Yes, one of these days you'll write more horrible stories about Harry and me," Hermione said with a small shrug.

"They've run plenty of horrible stories in the paper this year without my help. This time it wasn't me," Rita sniffed.

"I'm aware of that fact," Hermione said. "The Prophet has been telling lies about Harry all year. He's told the Minister the truth, but Fudge is too stupid to believe what's really going on."

"So, Harry, you really believe that You-Know-Who is back?" Rita asked, reaching into her handbag, an excited grin beginning to spread on her face.

"Yes," he said, fidgeting with a straw wrapper lying on the table.

Rita began to pull a quill out of her bag, but she stopped and her smile faded. "I'm sure Miss perfect wouldn't allow me to write that story, though."

"Actually, yes, that is exactly what I want," Hermione grinned.

Rita and Harry both stared at her, neither quite comprehending her plan yet. I started to hum the 'Weasley is our King' song absentmindedly under my breath. It wasn't a very nice song lyric wise, but it did have a very catchy tune to it.

"The Prophet won't print it," Rita said finally. "Everyone thinks he's delusional." She jerked her head towards Harry.

"My dad thinks the Prophet is a horrible paper," I said finally.

"This is also why I've asked Luna to be here today," Hermione added.

I looked up from my drink to see Hermione beaming at me. Harry looked as if he had just understood the plan and Rita looked at me, confused.

"Luna's dad," Hermione went on, "is the editor of the Quibbler. I want you, Rita, to interview Harry about what really happened last June and Luna's father has agreed to print the interview in the magazine."

"The Quibbler?" Rita shrieked, cackling with laughter. She stopped when nobody else joined in. "Oh, you were serious."

"Very," Hermione said.

"Come on," Rita snorted. "The Quibbler? You really think people will take Harry seriously if he's published in The Quibbler?"

"Some people won't, but the Daily Prophet's story about the Azkaban breakout had some gaping holes in it. I think a lot of people will be interested in an alternative story and plus, the whole idea is to just get Harry's story out there even if it's well, in an unusual magazine." She glanced at me again and I shrugged. To each his own, I suppose.

"I take it I'll be getting paid?" Rita asked. "That is, if I do agree to this."

"I don't think Daddy exactly pays people to write for the magazine," I said. "They do it because it's an honor, and of course, to see their names in print. They think that is pay enough."

"So you expect me to do this for free?" Rita looked shocked.

"Yes," Hermione said. "I want you to write down exactly what Harry says. I want the truth and I think the rest of the wizarding world does as well."

"Okay fine," Rita said with a sniff.

"Are you ready, Harry?" Hermione asked as Rita pulled out a quill.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Luna, when is this article going to be printed? I'm just curious."

"Possibly next month. Maybe the month after, depending on when my dad decides to run the article on Crumple Horned Snorkack sightings that he's expecting," I answered. "It's a very important article, so yours might end up being printed in the April issue. Either way, it'll be printed in the first week of the month. Daddy always tries to print each issue in the first week of every month."

Harry nodded again and I went back to stirring my gillywater as Rita began firing off questions.

* * *

><p>"So how did it go?" Neville asked.<p>

"Very well," I answered, nodding my head happily.

Neville and I were walking back towards Hogwarts. We had met up after Harry's interview and spent the rest of the day together.

"Do you think Umbridge will find out?" Neville asked.

I shrugged. "She might."

"I hope she does. She deserves the truth thrown right in her face," Neville said with a frown.

We paused at the front gates and I looked up at him. "What do you think will happen if the Ministry finds out he's back?" I asked.

"They're going to feel really stupid," Neville answered. He took my hands and was quiet for a moment.

"What is it, Neville?" I asked. "Something's on your mind and I don't think there are any Nargles around."

Neville took a deep breath. "Remember earlier how I had to tell you something?"

"Yes," I nodded. "What is it?"

"Well," Neville said, taking another deep breath. "I think," he paused and looked at the sky, then his feet, then back at me, "I think I might be falling in love with you."

I blinked and looked into his hopeful and pleading eyes. "Are you really?"

He nodded. "Yeah, yeah I am." He looked surer of himself now and also like he had gotten something off of his chest.

I grinned widely. "How lovely, Neville. I'm very glad you told me."

"You are?" he asked.

"Oh, yes," I said, nodding, "but falling seems like a dangerous word. Maybe you shouldn't fall. Maybe you should fly."

"Well, it's an expression. I can't fly anyway," Neville answered. "Falling fits me better."

If you use a broom or a thestral you can fly," I reasoned.

"Okay," Neville answered slowly, smiling slightly. "I am flying in love with you."

"That sounds safer," I grinned. "Don't you agree?"

"Depends," Neville answered. "It's not safe if you're a rubbish flyer."

"Well, thestrals are perfectly safe," I said. "They won't let you fall."

"You've ridden one?"

"Oh yes, of course," I answered. "Is that surprising?"

"No," Neville shook his head. "Not at all, Luna. Anyway, Luna, I just wanted to get that out. I understand if you don't feel that way about me but I just wanted to tell you."

"I do feel the same way," I answered quickly, without thinking much about my answer.

"You do?" Neville asked, looking shocked.

"Yes," I said. "You look rather surprised."

"It just feels too good to be true," he mumbled.

"Nothing is ever too good to be true," I smiled. "I'm almost positive that I'm flying into love with you, too."

Neville gave a small, relieved laugh and kissed my forehead. "That was one of the scariest moments of my life," he said. "Telling you that and not knowing how you would react."

"And you did it," I said. "You told me even though you were scared."

"I did," Neville nodded.

"Do you still doubt that you're a Gryffindor?" I asked, smiling at him with a raised eyebrow.

Neville glanced at me and blinked twice before grinning wider then I'd ever seen him grin. He pulled me into a big hug and I could feel his whole body shaking with laughter.

"What is it, Neville?" I asked, my voice muffled into his jacket.

"You always know what to say and when to say it," he said, releasing me and giving me a light kiss. He threw his arm over my shoulders and we walked the rest of the way up to school together.

* * *

><p>My father sent me a copy of the interview a few weeks later so that I could read it over. I thought it was absolutely wonderful and wrote back to dad telling him so.<p>

"So I take it Harry's interview won over the Snorkack article?" Neville asked as I sent off my reply one morning. I had refused to let him read the article. I wanted to see his reaction next week when he read it for the first time along with everyone else who picked up the magazine.

"It did," I answered. "The person wrote the article gave up his spot in this issue. He said he was very interested in what Harry had to say and he assured my dad that he could wait another month for his own article to be printed."

"I think what Harry has to say, well, people should know about it," Neville leaned against the wall and looked out the window.

"I know," I said, gently rubbing a hand up and down his arm.

He blinked and looked at me, coming out of his daze. "My gran said she went to visit my parents last weekend."

"Did she? How are they?" I asked.

"The same," he shrugged. He gave me a half smile. "They asked about you apparently. Well, my mum did. She's more expressive than my dad is."

I blinked. "Neville, how? I don't quite-,"

"Remember that picture Ginny took of us during one of the DA meetings?" Neville interrupted me.

I did remember the picture he was talking about. How could I forget? I had it stuck in the frame of my mirror at home. I didn't want to risk keeping it at school and having it stolen. It was better that I leave it on my mirror where it would stay safe and perfect.

"Yes, what about it?" I asked.

"Well, I asked Ginny for two extra copies," Neville said. "I gave the second copy to my gran to bring to my parents, you know, for their nightstands at St. Mungo's. Anyway, when my gran went to visit them over the weekend, my mum kept pointing at the picture. Gran told her we were both fine and still dating. My mum kept smiling at the picture and touching the glass. Then, gran found that my dad had taken the picture out of his frame. She thought it had been lost, until she found it tucked under his pillow."

"He sleeps with it there?" I asked, feeling a thrill at the acceptance. It was the only form of acceptance his parents could show, but it felt good.

"Apparently," Neville said, smiling. "They've never shown much expression or excitement before."

I slid my arms around him and rested my head on his chest. "That's great, Neville."

"Thank you, Luna, for everything," he murmured.

The next week, on the day Harry's interview was published, I noticed Harry's spot at the Gryffindor table getting swamped with owls at breakfast. I crossed the room and slid into a seat between Neville and Dean Thomas.

"It's good, isn't it?" I asked, noticing the copy of my father's magazine in Harry's hands. "I asked Dad to send you a free copy, and I expect all of these are letters from readers." I pointed at all of the envelopes being dropped off by owls.

"That's what I thought," Hermione said happily. "Harry, do you mind if-,"

"No, help yourself," Harry said. Ron, Hermione, Neville and I began tearing open envelopes, while Harry scanned the article in the magazine.

"This one's from a man who thinks you're off your rocker," said Ron, glancing down at the letter in his hands before tossing it over his shoulder. "Oh well."

"This woman recommends you try a good course of Shock Spells at St. Mungo's," Hermione said, looking upset. She crumpled it up and threw it onto the table.

"This one looks okay, though," Neville added happily. "She said she believes you, Harry!"

Fred Weasley had seen the commotion and started to help as well. "This one's in two minds," he said. "Says you don't come across as a mad person, but the really doesn't want to believe You-Know-Who is back so he doesn't know what to think now. Blimey, what a waste of parchment."

"That's no help at all," I agreed.

Neville took the letter from Fred and tossed it to the floor. "No use keeping that one," he shrugged as I giggled.

"Here's another one that you've convinced," I said, scanning the letter in my hands. "She says that she is forced to believe that the Daily Prophet has treated you unfairly."

"This one thinks you're mad," Ron said. He snorted and ripped up the letter before picking up another one. "This one believes you, though. She says you're her hero now and everything. Look, she included a picture, even."

"What is going on?" a voice asked. "Miss Lovegood, why are you not at your appropriate table?" It was Umbridge.

"There's no rule about visiting other tables," Neville said defiantly.

"Yet," Umbridge smiled sweetly, giving Neville a glare. He broke the gaze and stared into his cereal. "Why have you got all these letters, Mr. Potter?" she asked.

"Is it a crime now?" Fred asked loudly. "Getting letters?"

"Well, Mr. Potter?" Umbridge prodded, shooting a glare at Fred now.

Harry paused, but then he answered her. "Fan letters," he said. "I gave an interview about what happened to me last June."

"An interview?" Umbridge repeated, looking dumbstruck.

"I doubt she even knows what that is," Neville whispered to me. I nodded and stifled a giggle.

"Yes," Harry said. "A reporter asked me questions and I answered them," Harry said as if he were talking to a toddler. "Here, look at it." He tossed Umbridge a copy of the magazine.

"When did you do this?" Umbridge's eyes were bulging as she scanned the article.

"Last Hogsmeade weekend," Harry answered. I suddenly knew what Umbridge would do next.

"There will be no more Hogsmeade trips for you," she said, curling the magazine up into a cylinder. "Fifty points from Gryffindor will be taken as well and you also have a week of detention. I will be banning this magazine from being read by any and all students."

Harry's shoulders slumped, but I reached over and patted his arm. "Don't worry, Harry," I said. "You'll only miss four Hogsmeade trips, and the story is already out there. She can't do anything about that."

"But she has," Ron said slowly. "Breakfast isn't even over and she's working on banning it."

"Luna might be on to something," Hermione said. "This is actually great! If there's one thing Umbridge can do to make sure everyone reads the article it's banning it!"

"Yes, I find that people always like to do whatever they are told they can't do."

"Especially when they are told they can't by an ugly old toad," Neville added.

* * *

><p>That afternoon, I ran down to the greenhouses and caught Neville coming out of one of them. "Look at this!" I exclaimed breathlessly.<p>

Neville scanned the letter I had handed him. "You're dad is reprinting?" he asked.

"Yes, he can't believe it," I said. "Apparently people are more interested in Harry than in the Crumple Horned Snorkack!"

"Really?" said a sarcastic voice from behind us. Neville and I looked up to see Malfoy standing there, his arms crossed and flanked by Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson. "I'd be more interested in the Snork things and they don't even exist!" His friends laughed loudly.

"Hey, shut it," Neville said, passing my back the letter.

"On the other hand, I think History of Magic is more exciting than Potter and the Snork things combined and that's saying something!"

"Hey, Longbottom," Pansy sneered, "you really like Looney, don't you? How come? Is it because she's the only person crazy enough to go out with you?"

Neville's face was red with embarrassment and anger and his fists were clenched. He tried to move towards the Slytherins, but I took his hand. "Oh, no," I said, "lots of people would love to go out with Neville. He has a lot of great qualities. It seems that you don't have the correct facts."

"You're one to talk," Malfoy said with a smirk, holding up a copy of the Quibbler that he must have snuck past Umbridge. With an evil grin, he ripped it in half and threw it to the ground, where he stomped on it. "What a load of rubbish this is," he said. Laughing, he and his friends disappeared into the castle.

Neville immediately picked up the pieces of the magazine and tapped them with his wand so that they reattached themselves. "Jerks," he muttered, handing the magazine back to me. I quickly stored it in my bag in case Umbridge came and saw it. "You know you aren't crazy or loony, right?"

"Some people think I am," I shrugged. "It's okay if they think so. I'm used to it. I hardly notice anymore."

Neville brushed a finger across my cheek. "Do you want to know what Harry told me in my first year? He told me I was worth twelve of Malfoy."

"That was very nice of him to say. It's true, too."

"Well, you're worth twelve of him too," Neville said.

"I'm glad you think so," I said with a smile.

"I know so," Neville answered, tapping my nose and taking me hand. Together, we walked inside to dinner and to tell Harry the exciting news about the popularity of his interview.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I just wanted to thank all of the people who have reviewed and/or added this story to their story alerts and/or favorites. I'm having so much fun writing this story and it's good to know when people enjoy reading it. :)**

* * *

><p>The Easter holidays arrived about a month and a half after Harry's interview appeared in The Quibbler. I was originally planning on going home for the holidays, but in the end, I decided to stay at school. Dad ended up making plans to visit a friend anyway, so it all worked out in the end.<p>

Neville was also staying at school, which was very lucky. We would have the whole week to spend time together without having to worry running off to classes or making time in our schedules. The only things we'd have to worry about were Umbridge and her silly decrees.

The first day of the holidays was cloudy, but I took a chance and went down to visit the thestrals, hoping it wouldn't rain. The only reason that I didn't want it to rain was because the thestrals don't like rain much and they stay hidden deep in the forest. I hadn't been to see them in quite a while and I had missed going to feed them.

I brought Neville with me to feed the thestrals. He held the bag of food in one hand and he intertwined the fingers of his other hand with mine.

"It definitely looks like rain today," he said, glancing up at the sky. "We probably shouldn't stay out here long if we want to make it inside before it starts."

"I don't mind," I answered as we walked down the hill to the thestrals. "Getting caught in the rain, that is."

"You don't?" Neville tilted his head and looked at me.

"No," I shook my head. "I find rain to be oddly calming and very nice to look at. I've always liked sun more, but rain is pretty as well."

We were silent for a few minutes as we fed the thestrals. Whenever we were feeding the thestrals, we were almost always in silence. It was just some kind of ritual we had fallen into and it wasn't an awkward silence either. It was comfortable and the kind of peaceful silence that I actually enjoyed.

Just as we were finishing up, it started to pour without even a few sprinkling raindrops as a warning. It was as if someone had flipped a switch. Since we were in the forest, we weren't getting as wet as we would have out in the open, but we were still pretty soaked within a minute due to the fact that we weren't very deep in the forest.

"Well, there's the rain," Neville said with a glance at the sky. The thestrals were hurrying away deeper into the shelter of the forest and soon it was just me and Neville standing there. "Should we walk back or wait it out?" he asked.

"Let's wait it out," I said with a smile. "We're already soaked and we don't have anywhere to be until dinner."

"Okay," Neville nodded.

I turned and sat under a very leafy tree, watching the water drip off of the leaves. Neville sat next to me and we fell into the comfortable silence again.

I reached out and gently touched the end of one of the leaves. It swayed at my touch and more rain water was shaken off of it, splashing onto my face.

"You're right," Neville finally said.

"About what?" I asked.

"About rain being calming," Neville said. "I never liked rain as a kid. I always thought it was so dreary, but now that you've mentioned it being calming, I could probably fall asleep right under this tree."

"I always thought rain was dreary too," I said, reaching out to touch the leaf again. "But then my mum told me that rain was a good thing in disguise. It looks dreary and grey, but it's really helping to keep the earth healthy. Rain is like a huge watering can being dumped on the entire earth, helping the plants to grow." I smiled at him, knowing he would like that analogy.

Sure enough, he smiled. "Yeah, I suppose it is." He stood up and turned to face me, holding out his hand.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Just take my hand," he answered.

I did, and he pulled me to a standing position before pulling me close, holding our intertwined hands out the side and sliding the other arm around my waist. I rested my free arm on his shoulder and my head on his chest and we began to dance.

Neville began to hum a song that sounded all too familiar. "My mum used to hum that lullaby to me when I was little," I said, quietly.

"My mum did, too," Neville whispered back, his chin resting on my head. "That's what my gran told me, anyway. And then my gran used to hum it as well."

I picked up where he had left off and continued to hum the song we both knew as we continued to dance in the rain.

We returned to the castle soaking wet and left small puddles of water all over the floor. Hopefully Filch wouldn't catch us. I wasn't really in the mood for another detention.

"Well, I'll see you at dinner, then," Neville said, tracing a finger along my jaw.

"I'll see you at dinner," I repeated with a nod. Standing on my tiptoes, I brushed a kiss across his lips and disappeared into my common room.

* * *

><p>"What is that noise?" I asked one afternoon shortly after classes had resumed once again. Neville and I were walking to dinner together and I had just heard a faint bubbling sound coming from the next hallway.<p>

"Something smells strange, too," Neville added, wrinkling his nose.

"Yes," I agreed. "Maybe it's a-,"

"It's Fred and George," Ginny said, appearing behind us with Ron and Hermione.

"That's not what I was going to say, but what did they do?" I asked.

"They set up a portable swamp in that hallway. No one can get through. The teacher's are blocking it off now. Umbridge is furious. She sent Filch to go get some paper from the Ministry. I think it was a punishment approval form." Hermione was biting her lip in nervousness.

"Where's Harry?" I asked.

"He had something to take care of," Hermione answered.

"Anyway, Umbridge has her whole Inquisitorial Squad trying to round Fred and George up," Ron said.

"Where did they go?" Neville asked.

The others shrugged, but at that moment, Umbridge walked by with Lee Jordan hot on her heels.

"But Professor," Lee was saying. "How do you know they did it? It could have been anyone."

"That portable swamp is the work of a professional. Or, professionals, rather," Umbridge answered stiffly.

"Oh, so they're professional pranksters," Lee said proudly. "Glad to hear you think so. That's quite a compliment."

"Detention, Mr. Jordan," Umbridge said calmly. Handing out detentions was so easy for her. She did it like it was nothing.

"Let's go," Ginny said, gesturing for all of us to follow.

We ended up in the entrance hall, where a crowd had already formed. Umbridge was standing on the staircase, looking down at Fred and George, who were standing in front of the oak front doors.

"So," she said, "you think it amusing to turn a school corridor into a swamp, do you?"

"Pretty amusing, yeah," Fred answered, looking up at her with a raised eyebrow.

Neville squeezed my hand and I saw him smiling. Many of the students and even teachers loved when someone stood up to Umbridge and gave her trouble and the whole school knew that no one caused trouble like the Weasley twins. I could feel that something big was about to happen and I think Neville could sense it as well.

Filch appeared at Umbridge's side, seemingly out of nowhere. "I've got the form," he said, waving it joyfully. It was probably the happiest I'd ever seen him.

"Very good, Argus," Umbridge said, smiling. She turned back to the twins. "You two are about to learn what happens to wrongdoers in my school."

"Her school?" Neville hissed.

"She wishes," I answered back.

"I don't think we are," Fred was saying now, with a small shrug. "George, I think we've outgrown full-time education."

"Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself," George answered with a small shrug of his own.

"Time to test our talents in the real world, don't you think?" Fred asked.

"Definitely," smirked George.

Before anyone could do anything, they had summoned their brooms and mounted them. "We won't be seeing you," Fred said, looking down at Professor Umbridge from where he was hovering in the air.

"Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch," George added.

Fred looked around at the crowd that had almost doubled in size since Neville and I had arrived with Ginny, Hermione and Ron. "If anyone fancies buying a Portable Swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three Diagon Alley," he said loudly. "Our new premises!"

"Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they're going to use our products to get rid of this old bat," George added, pointing at Umbridge.

There was a cheer throughout the crowd that drowned out Umbridge's cries of fury as the twins flew even higher into the air. Fred looked right at Peeves, who I had just noticed was floating in the air above our heads.

"Give her hell from us, Peeves," Fred said.

Peeves saluted the twins, something I had never seen him do, and with that the twins had gone, growing smaller and smaller in the distance as the cheers in the entranceway grew louder and louder.

* * *

><p>"That was brilliant," Neville said as we walked into dinner later on.<p>

"Oh, yes," I said with a nod. "Very brave of them."

"Yeah, but it's not like there would be any consequences for them anyway," Neville said with a small shrug. "Umbridge isn't going to go after them. She's probably glad she has them out of her hair."

"I suspect the feeling is mutual," I answered.

Neville laughed. "I think so too. I know I would be glad to get out of here and away from her." He sent a glare at Umbridge, who was sitting at the staff table, looking out at the students.

"Well," I said, "I'd better go sit at my table." Neville and I were still looking at Umbridge and as we watched, she turned her eyes on us and stared.

"She's making sure we don't try to sit at the same table," Neville mumbled in an annoyed tone.

I turned and smiled at him. "Well, we do each have to eat at our own tables."

"Yes, but there was never any rule about visiting other tables until she came along."

"I know," I answered. "Between that and her new rule that boys and girls can't be within eight inches of each other, I'm starting to think she believes we're spreading germs."

"Yeah, well, that eight inches rule is one that's begging to be broken," Neville said, still staring at Umbridge and taking a step closer to me. Umbridge narrowed her eyes and Neville smirked.

"You've become rather rebellious," I said with a smile.

"I've had a few influences," Neville answered.

"Well, we'd better sit down," I said after a moment. "I am rather hungry."

"Right, me too," Neville answered, giving me a kiss. Umbridge cleared her throat loudly from the front of the room. A lot of people turned to stare at her.

"Something stuck in your throat, Dolores?" I heard Professor Sprout ask.

I let out a small giggle and Neville smiled. "See you later," he said, squeezing my hand before letting go.

"See you later," I repeated.

* * *

><p>I didn't get to see much of Neville in the following weeks. His OWL exams were coming up and a lot of his time was devoted to studying. The only times I did get to see him were in the hallways and at meals, where we couldn't even sit together.<p>

Neville was also having trouble studying, especially for Potions.

"It's so hard to memorize everything, and we have to actually perform spells and things too, not just take a written exam. What if I can't do what they ask?" he wondered one morning as we walked to class.

Finally, one Saturday morning, I was hit with an idea. It would be a way for us to spend time together and it would also hopefully help Neville with his studying.

"Neville, get your books and meet me in the entrance hall in ten minutes," I said.

"I have to study, Luna," he said miserably. "Otherwise, I would love to hang out with you. You know that."

"I do know that. I also know that you need to study and I want to help you. That's why I'm asking you to meet me. I have an idea."

"What is it?" he asked.

"I can't tell you," I answered, shaking my head. "Just go get your books. I'll wait for you in the entrance hall."

"Okay," Neville answered, turning and hurrying towards the Gryffindor common room.

I waited patiently on the bottom step of the entrance hall staircase for Neville to come. Finally, he came jogging down the stairs, stopping in front of me with his bag slung over his shoulder. "Ready," he said breathlessly.

"Come with me, Neville," I said, taking his hand and leading him outside. I led him all the way to the greenhouses.

"Luna, I think I've got Herbology almost covered," Neville said.

"Oh I'm sure you do," I answered, "but we aren't going inside the greenhouses. Not yet anyway. We're staying out here first." I stopped on the area of grass outside the greenhouses.

"I don't understand what you're getting at," Neville said, smiling and crossing his arms. "I can't wait to hear it, though."

"I'm going to help you study," I answered. "I'm going to practice spells with you and help you memorize the information you need to know."

"Luna, it's a lot of stuff. I don't expect you to help me with it all. You have your own exams coming up and-,"

"Oh, don't worry about me," I said, waving my hand. I'll get my studying done. Now, sit down."

Neville sat cross legged on the grass and I sat across from him, our knees touching. I reached into my own bag that I had brought with me and pulled out a large stack of bright yellow paper and a quill.

"My eyes," Neville joked, squeezing them shut. "I've been blinded."

"The color is important," I said seriously. "I'll explain in a minute. First, pick a subject to start with."

"Potions," Neville answered at once. "It's my worst one."

"Alright, well the yellow paper is going to be for Potions," I said. I pointed to my bag. "I have seven other colors in there to use for Charms, Transfiguration, Astronomy, Divination, History of Magic, Care of Magical Creatures and Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"We're color coding my classes?" Neville asked.

"Yes, and what I'm going to do is write possible questions down on pieces of paper and we'llwrite the answers on the back. Then, I want you to tape them around your dorm on things you use every day, such as the door to the dormitory, your favorite chair in the common room, or even the bathroom sink. You can't use those things until you answer the question correctly and you have to use the objects every day so the repetition will help you memorize the answers."

"So if I stuck a question onto my pillow, that means I can't go to sleep until I answer the question correctly?"

"Yes," I nodded. "The answers will be on the back so that you can check your work. Just as long as you don't cheat." I tapped his knee with the stack of paper.

Neville smiled. "What about the colors? Where do they come in?"

"Since they're color coded by subject, when you're taking your exam, you'll remember that Potions questions, for example, were written on yellow paper and you'll also most likely remember where exactly the papers were taped and the question that was on it and you'll be able to answer them."

"Luna, that's brilliant," Neville said, his eyes widening.

I shrugged. "It was my mum's study method in school. I use it too and I find that it helps a lot."

"Why did you bring me to the greenhouses?" Neville asked, turning his head to look into the nearest one. It was as if he were checking up on the plants.

"Well, I was going to have you practice some spells on the plants. I thought that since you would be performing spells on things you care so much about, it would help you to really try and get the spell right, but we might not have time today. We'll have to do that tomorrow, and anyway, you've already had a lot of practice with spells from the DA, so we'll really just be doing a brush up on those. Even if we don't practice today, studying out here is a better location than up in your dorm."

"Definitely," Neville nodded.

"Well, let's get started," I said. "I'll write out the questions and you can write the answers. Use your book if you have to."

Neville pulled out his Potions book and placed it beside him on the grass. "I think I know what you're doing," he said.

"Do you?" I asked.

"Having me write out the answers to the practice questions will be another way of helping me study. While I'm writing out the answers, they're already beginning to stick in my mind."

"Exactly," I answered. "I'm glad you caught on."

"What would I do without you, Luna?" he asked.

"You would be a lot more stressed about your OWLs, I think," I answered with a smile.

"That is very true," he answered. "Thank you again for helping me."

"It's no trouble. I haven't seen you very much lately and I missed you, so I had to think of a way for you to study and for us to be around each other at the same time. That's when I came up with this idea."

"Thank goodness for you and your ideas," Neville said, leaning over and kissing my nose.

"Yes, thank goodness." I smiled to myself as I wrote out the first practice question.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: This chapter turned out to be longer than most of the other chapters. Sorry about that, but I couldn't find a good place to end it. Don't forget to review! Reading them really encourages me to write more. **

**I don't own Harry Potter.**

* * *

><p>On the night before the exams, I gave Neville a special charm that kept away Nargles and Wrackspurts. I had one just like it on a chain around my neck. I didn't have an extra chain, though, so I had to give Neville just the charm. I wasn't sure if he was the type of guy to wear necklaces anyway.<p>

"I'm sorry I didn't have a chain to put it on," I said with a half smile.

"I love it just the same," Neville answered, sliding it into his pocket.

"Good," I answered. "It'll be useful to keep away Nargles and Wrackspurts while you're taking your exams."

"Yes, I'm sure it will." Neville gave me a huge smile and ran a hand up and down my arm, giving me shivers. "Good luck on your exams, too. I know the exams for the rest of the school start tomorrow as well."

"Yes, I think I'm pretty well prepared." I had already learned so much from the DA and I found that studying with Neville helped me as well, even though that had been fifth year material. I still had to make time to study on my own, using my colored paper method. I had to make sure nobody would rip the papers down, so I charmed them so that I would be the only one able to remove them and I advised Neville to do the same.

"I'm sure you'll do just fine," Neville assured me.

"I sure hope so," I said seriously.

The next week was one of the most hectic weeks of the school year. It always was; every year, without fail.

Neville and I met up every day after exams for a little while to talk and see each other before we both had to run off to study for the next day's exams. We told each other how we thought we did on every exam that we took. So far, we both seemed pretty confident. I was happy that Neville felt comfortable. His exams were very important. They would help to determine his future.

Finally, the last day of exams arrived. Neville had History of Magic and I had Defense Against the Dark Arts. I couldn't wait to finally be done with that class and my exams. I was itching to get outside and into the sunshine.

When we had finally finished our exam, Ginny and I began making our way towards the front doors as soon as Umbridge let us leave.

"So how are things with you and Michael?" I asked.

"Oh, I broke up with him a few days ago," Ginny answered, wrinkling her nose and waving her hand dismissively.

"Oh, why?" I asked.

"Well, he's been in a horrible mood since Ravenclaw lost to Gryffindor in the last Quidditch match. He's been complaining and sulking for weeks and I told you how he's always like that when Ravenclaw loses. I just couldn't take it anymore, so I broke up with him and he went off to comfort Cho Chang."

"Oh yes, I heard that she and Harry didn't have such a good time when they went out on Valentine's Day."

"Yes, well, Dean Thomas asked me out yesterday, so I've moved on," Ginny shrugged.

"Already?" I asked, blinking a few times, surprised at how fact Ginny could bounce back and also at how fast another boy had asked her out.

"Yeah, like I said, I'd been kind of losing interest in Michael for a while and then Dean came along."

"That was quick of him," I said.

"Yes, I suppose it was," Ginny said with a small laugh.

We were silent for a little while, and the silence enabled us to hear shouting coming from a nearby classroom.

"That sounds like Harry, doesn't it?" I asked.

"I think it is Harry," Ginny answered. "I wonder what he's yelling about now."

"Has he been doing a lot of yelling?" I asked.

"Yes, this year he has. I expect he's under a lot of stress." Ginny marched over to the classroom door and opened it. Sure enough, Harry was in there with Ron and Hermione. "Hi," Ginny said. "We recognized Harry's voice. What are you yelling about?"

"It's none of your business," Harry said dismissively.

"There's no need to take that tone with me," Ginny answered with raised eyebrows. "I was only wondering whether I could help."

"Well you can't," Harry answered, just as dismissively as before.

"You're being rather rude, you know," I told him honestly. Ginny had been right. He did seem to be under lots of stress, although I expected the end of exams to diminish part of his stress. Not all of it, considering he had more on his mind than exams, but the exams should have at least helped.

Harry turned away and looked back at Ron and Hermione.

"Harry," Hermione said slowly. "They _can _help us."

We all looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

"Listen, Harry," she said, "we need to establish whether Sirius really has left headquarters."

"I've told you, I saw-,"

"Harry, I'm begging you, please!" Hermione said desperately.

I looked at Ginny, who looked just as confused as I did. "Hermione said 'Sirius'," I whispered. "Did she mean-?"

"Sirius Black, yeah, he's actually not a murderer. He's innocent." Ginny bit her lip. "Although, I don't know what they're going on about right now."

Hermione was still speaking. "Let's just check that Sirius isn't at home before we go charging off to London. If we find out he's not there then I swear I won't try and stop you. I'll come, I'll do whatever it takes to try and save him—."

"Sirius is being tortured right now!" Harry shouted. "We haven't got time to waste."

"But if this is a trick of Voldemort's—Harry, we've got to check," Hermione said in a pleading voice.

"How?" Harry demanded, crossing his arms.

"We'll have to use Umbridge's fire and see if we can contact him," Hermione answered, looking nervous. "We'll draw Umbridge away, but we'll need lookouts and that's where we can use Ginny and Luna."

"Yeah, we'll do it," Ginny said, still looking lost.

"By Sirius, you really do mean Sirius Black?" I asked. "Are you sure you don't mean Stubby Boardman? He's the lead singer of The Hobgoblins. There was an article in the Quibbler about how Stubby was mistaken to be Sirius Black."

Nobody said anything. I just shrugged. I guess by Sirius Black, they really meant Sirius Black.

"Okay," Harry said to Hermione. "If you can think of a way of doing this quickly, I'm with you. Otherwise I'm going to the department of Mysteries right now and-,"

"The Department of Mysteries?" I interrupted, surprised. "How are you going to get there?"

Harry ignored that. I took that as meaning he had no idea.

Hermione began pacing. "Well, one of us has to go and find Umbridge and send her off in the wrong direction to keep her away from her office. They could tell her, oh, I don't know, that Peeves is up to something awful as usual and-,"

"I'll do it," Ron volunteered. "I'll tell her Peeves is smashing up the Transfiguration department or something. It's miles away from her office. Come to think of it, I could probably persuade Peeves to do it if I met him on the way."

"Okay," Hermione agreed as she resumed pacing. "Now, we need to keep students away from her office while we force entry, or some Slytherin's bound to go and tip her off."

I couldn't believe my ears. First, Hermione hadn't objected at all to the destruction of the Transfiguration department, and secondly, she was talking about forcing entry into a teacher's office.

"Luna and I can stand at either end of the hallway," Ginny said. "We can warn people not to go down there because someone's set off a load of Garroting Gas. Fred and George were planning to do it before they left, anyway."

"Alright," Hermione said, nodding. "Then, Harry, you and I will be under the Invisibility Cloak and we'll sneak into the office and you can talk to Sirius-,"

"He's not there!" Harry interrupted.

"I mean you can check to see if he's home while I keep watch. I don't think you should be in there alone."

"Thanks," Harry mumbled.

"We probably won't be able to get more than five minutes, even with all of the precautions because Filch and the Inquisitorial Squad are still wandering around."

"Five minutes will be enough," Harry said. "Now, let's go."

"Go get your cloak, Harry, and we'll meet you at the end of Umbridge's corridor, okay?"

Harry nodded and dashed from the room, while the rest of us headed for Umbridge's office.

"We're going to have to think of some sort of signal," Hermione said. "You know, so that you can warn me and Harry if Umbridge is coming."

"How about we start loudly singing 'Weasley Is Our King'?" Ginny asked, smirking at Ron, who turned red.

"Perfect," Hermione answered.

We reached Umbridge's office and leaned against the wall outside of it.

"Do you think this'll work?" Ron asked.

"Hopefully," Hermione sighed.

"I'm still not sure what's going on." Ginny raised an eyebrow.

"Why does Harry need to go to the Department of Mysteries?" I asked.

"He needs to go there," Hermione sighed, "because Sirius Black is his godfather and Harry had some sort of…vision where he saw Voldemort torturing Sirius in the Department of Mysteries. He's convinced it's real, which is why we have to check and see if Sirius is at his house or not."

"I see," I nodded. "And if he's not, Harry plans on going to save him?"

"That's exactly what he plans on doing," Hermione answered.

Harry came tearing down the hallway just then, and Hermione sent Ron on his way to distract Umbridge. She ordered me and Ginny to start clearing out the hallway while she put the cloak over Harry and herself.

Ginny and I began walking down the hallway. "You can't come down here!" Ginny yelled. "No, sorry, you're going to have to go around by the swiveling staircase. Someone's set off Garroting Gas down here."

"Smells terrible," I added, fanning my face, "and it attracts Wrackspurts."

"I can't see any gas," one boy complained.

"It's colorless," Ginny answered exasperatedly, "but if you want to walk through it, then go right ahead. We'll just save your body as proof for the next idiot who didn't believe us."

The crowd thinned pretty quickly until the hallway was empty. I looked over my shoulder to see Umbridge's office door open and close. Harry and Hermione were inside. Now, we just had to wait.

Ron returned a few moments later and we stood waiting, leaning against the wall again.

"They'd better hurry up," I said eventually. "It's been about five minutes, hasn't it?"

"Just about, yeah," Ginny answered.

"Uh-oh," Ron gasped. I looked up and saw why. Malfoy and a few other members of the Inquisitorial Squad, including Crabbe and Goyle were coming towards us.

"Don't come down here. Someone let off Garroting Gas," I said.

"We don't see or smell anything," Malfoy said.

"It's colorless," Ginny said.

"But not odorless," Malfoy answered with a smirk.

There was a girlish laugh and the Inquisitorial Squad moved aside to reveal Umbridge. She was so short that she could easily hide behind the group of Slytherins.

"You're covering up for someone," she said. "Who is in my office?"

"No one," Ginny answered. "Why would you even think that?"

"Hmm," Umbridge said. "I'm going to take a look." She turned to the Slytherins. "I want you to round these young ladies and gentleman up and bring them inside when you're done." She went into the office with Malfoy and a Slytherin girl righe behind her.

One of the larger, scarier Slytherins, his name was Warrington I believe, grabbed both of my arms and pinned them behind me. I didn't even try to fight. It really wasn't any use. Ginny and Ron were struggling against Crabbe and Goyle with no luck.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Everyone froze and looked up. Neville was coming towards us, looking angry. His hands were clenched into fists.

"The headmistress wants us to round them up and bring them into her office," Crabbe said. "They're in trouble." I could see him smirking gleefully and I didn't really like that very much. He was thrilled that we were in trouble and that he had helped to catch us.

"These are my friends and my girlfriend," Neville said. "Let them go."

"So?" Warrington asked. "What are you going to do about it?" He poked his wand into my neck.

"Stop it. Let her go," Neville said, glaring at Warrington.

"Like I said, what are you going to do about it?"

Neville opened his mouth to answer, but Warrington interrupted, answering his own question. "Nothing, absolutely nothing."

The fourth Slytherin standing out in the hallway with us grabbed Neville's arms and held them tight. They dragged us into the room and dragged us all to the far side, near the windows.

"We've got them all," Warrington said proudly. "This one," he pointed at Neville, "tried to stop me from taking the rest of them, especially her." He jabbed his wand into my neck again. Neville tried to kick him, but the Slytherin behind him just held his arms tighter.

"Very good," Umbridge said. She was holding Harry by the hair and she dragged him to his feet and pushed him into a chair. She turned and looked at us. She grinned evilly when she saw Ginny struggling against Goyle and Ron trying to step on Crabbe's foot. "It looks as though Hogwarts will shortly be a Weasley-free zone, doesn't it?"

Malfoy laughed and Umbridge's grin widened before she turned back to Harry.

"So, Potter," she began. "You stationed lookouts around my office and you sent this buffoon," she nodded towards Ron, "to tell me the poltergeist was destroying the Transfiguration department when I knew perfectly well that he was busy smearing ink on the eyepieces of all the school telescopes."

"How do you know he hadn't finished and gone to the Transfiguration department?" Ron asked.

"I knew because Mr. Filch had just informed me of Peeves' location just minutes before you arrived, Mr. Weasley." Umbridge sighed with impatience before continuing to speak to Harry. "It was clearly important for you to talk to someone. Was it Dumbledore? Or that half-breed, Hagrid? I doubt it was Professor McGonagall. I hear she is still too ill to talk to anyone."

I continued to look at the ceiling. I had heard from Neville about the incident during his Astronomy exam where Umbridge had tried to fire Hagrid, an act that had resulted in Professor McGonagall being hit with four Stunning spells and Hagrid running away.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Neville start struggling against the Slytherin holding him. The Slytherin just laughed and twisted his arm a little bit.

"That wasn't very nice," I told him, frowning.

He laughed loudly. "Who cares about nice? It's just Longbottom."

"No, I don't think he's 'just Longbottom.' He's worth twelve of each of you people."

Neville actually smiled and glanced over at me as the Slytherin laughed again. "That's coming from Looney Lovegood. You're always so spaced out that I doubt you know what day it is."

"It's Thursday," I said calmly.

"Enough," Umbridge snapped, glaring at us over her shoulder. She turned back to Harry. "Well, Potter?"

"It's none of your business who I talk to," he answered.

"Very well," Umbridge said, smiling sweetly. "I offered you the chance to tell me freely, but you refused. I have no alternative but to force you to tell me. Draco, please fetch Professor Snape."

Draco smirked and left the room, looking joyful at Harry's current predicament. Harry's mouth had just fallen open. He had clearly realized something, although I'm not sure what it was exactly.

The office fell silent. The only sounds that could be heard was the frequent sounds of the others struggling against their Slytherin captors. I still hadn't moved. I figured it wouldn't do any good. These Slytherins were very strong.

Ron's lip was bleeding, I noticed. I wasn't sure how he had managed to do that. I also noticed that the Slytherin holding Neville now had him in a headlock position. Neville's face was turning purple as he pulled on the Slytherin's arms.

"He can't breathe," I pointed out.

"I know, that's the point," the Slytherin sneered. "But I'm not going to let him suffocate if that's what you're wondering. I'm just making him suffer for a little while."

"Whatever did he do to you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

The Slytherin snorted. "Nothing, it's just-,"

"—then why are you being so rude and mean?"

The Slytherin clearly didn't like being asked so many questions. "Because Longbottom is just fun to torture," he said finally with a laugh.

I stared at him, never even blinking. I'm rather good at that. Keeping my eyes open longer than most, I mean.

Eventually, the Slytherin loosened his grip on Neville, muttering to himself. I caught the words "crazy," "batty" and "loony."

"She's not!" Neville said forcefully. "She's not at all. You don't even know her."

"Shut it, Longbottom," the Slytherin said. He twisted Neville's arm again, but then saw me still looking at him unblinkingly and he fell silent and resorted to just holding Neville's arms.

I turned my gaze on Neville and when we made eye contact, I smiled, reassuring him that I was fine.

"How did your exam go today?" I asked him.

Neville blinked. "What?" He looked surprised.

"Your exam," I replied. "How did it go?"

"Oh, fine," Neville answered, still looking surprised. He blinked a few times.

"Very good," I said with a smile. I stared out the window while we waited for Snape. I saw a thestral fly above the trees of the forest in a circle before diving back down beneath the cover of the trees. I had wanted to go feed them today. I wondered if I'd still have time after we were let go.

Snape and Malfoy finally returned. "You wanted to see me, Headmistress?" said Snape, looking around at the inhabitants of the room, looking completely unfazed.

"Ah, yes," Umbridge answered. "I would like another bottle of Veritaserum, as quick as you can, please."

"You took my last bottle to interrogate students," Snape said. "Surely you did not use it all?"

"You can make some more, can't you?" Umbridge asked.

"Certainly, but it should be ready in about a month."

"A month?" Umbridge repeated, her voice rising. "I need it tonight! I have just found Potter using my fire to communicate with someone!"

"Really?" Snape asked, showing interest for the first time since he had come into the room. "Well, I'm not surprised. Potter has never shown much inclination to follow the rules."

"I need to question him!"

"I can't help you," Snape answered, his tone bored once again.

"You're on probation!" Umbridge screamed. "Get out of my office."

Snape raised an eyebrow, but turned to leave all the same.

"He's got Padfoot!" Harry yelled. It was quite loud and everyone in the room jumped. "He's got Padfoot in the place where it's hidden!" Snape paused in the doorway.

"Who or what is Padfoot?" Umbridge asked. "Snape, what is he talking about?"

Snape glanced over his shoulder, but didn't turn around. His face was unreadable. "I have no idea," Snape said quietly. "Potter, when I want nonsense shouted at me, I will give you a Babbling Beverage." He looked over at the rest of us, lined up along the wall and his eyes fell on the Slytherin holding Neville. "Loosen your hold on Longbottom. If he suffocates, it'll mean a lot of tedious paperwork and I'm afraid I'll have to mention it on your reference if you ever apply for a job."

I looked over at Neville. The Slytherin had put him in a headlock again. I stared at him and he glanced between me and Snape before finally letting Neville go. "I was getting bored," he mumbled.

Snape sighed and closed the door behind him as he left the room.

"Very well," Umbridge said, recomposing herself. I turned to look out the window again. This was getting a tad boring. I just wanted Umbridge to let us all go so that I could visit the thestrals.

"This is more than a matter of school discipline. It is a matter of Ministry security," Umbridge was saying. "I am forced to decide to use the Cruciatus Curse on you, Mr. Potter. That might loosen your tongue."

Her words got me to turn away from the window and for my eyes to get wide.

"It's illegal," Hermione snapped. Millicent Bulstrode, the huge Slytherin girl holding onto her, poked her wand into Hermione's neck.

Umbridge ignored Hermione and raised her wand. "Cruc-,"

"No!" Hermione shouted. Everyone turned their eyes on Hermione now. "Harry, we'll have to tell her!"

"What?" Harry asked.

"Tell me what?" Umbridge looked hopeful.

"We'll have to tell her anyway, Harry. She'll force it out of you." Suddenly, Hermione started crying. Everyone was still staring at her, but I noticed that although she was crying, there were no tears on her face at all.

"Yes, that's right," Umbridge said, grabbing Hermione from Millicent's grip and shoving her into a second chair. "Now, who was Potter trying to talk to just now?"

"He was _trying_ to talk to Professor Dumbledore," Hermione answered, still sniffling. I blinked a few times. I had no idea where Hermione was going with this, but I had the impression she was up to something.

"Dumbledore?" Umbridge repeated. She looked thrilled at the information. "So you know where he is, then?"

"No," sniffled Hermione, "we've tried the Leaky Cauldron, the Three Broomsticks and even the Hog's Head, but-,"

Umbridge interrupted her with a laugh. "Dumbledore won't be sitting in a pub when the whole Ministry is looking for him!" she shouted.

"But we needed to tell him something very important!" Hermione said, wailing as she faked a whole new set of tears.

"Yes, what did you need to tell him?"

"We wanted to tell him that it's ready!" Hermione managed to say.

"What's ready?" Umbridge asked, leaning closer to Hermione. "What is it?"

"The weapon," Hermione said quietly, hiding her head in her hands.

I looked at Ron, Neville and Ginny and they looked back at me, their faces blank. I could tell they were as confused as I was. We were all officially lost, but I wondered if Hermione could possibly get us out of here.


	19. Chapter 19

_"No love, no friendship can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever."_

* * *

><p>"Weapon?" Umbridge asked. "What weapon? Cornelius was afraid of this happening. This sort of thing is exactly what he wanted to prevent! You've been developing a weapon on Professor Dumbledore's orders that you could use against the Ministry?"<p>

"Yes," Hermione answered, "but he had to leave before it was finished and now we've finished it for him but can't find him to tell him!"

"What kind of weapon is it? What does it do?" Umbridge asked eagerly.

"We don't really understand it," Hermione answered. "We just did whatever Dumbledore told us to do."

Umbridge stood up straight and looked down at Hermione. "Lead me to the weapon, then."

"I can't show them." Hermione jerked her head towards the Slytherins.

"Why not?" Umbridge asked.

"Well, I _could_ if you really wanted me to. In fact, we could invite the whole school and let them find out about the weapon and how to use it. They might even decide to use it on _you_!" Hermione's eyes grew very wide and I shared another look with Neville. I hadn't heard anything of a weapon, but sometimes I can be very out of the loop. The fact that Neville was confused as well led me to believe that there wasn't a weapon at all, but I still wasn't sure how Hermione was going to get out of this.

"Very well, Miss Granger. You and I will go, and let's bring Potter, too, shall we?"

Hermione nodded and Umbridge pulled both her and Harry to their feet before glancing over her shoulder at Malfoy, who had been smirking the whole time. "Mr. Malfoy, I'm going to put you in charge. Make sure none of these students escape."

"Of course," Malfoy answered. "I'm sure we'll have a blast." His smirk widened.

Umbridge turned back to Harry and Hermione. "Lead the way," she said with a girlish laugh.

Once they had left the room, the office fell into silence once more. I looked out the window. The sun was just starting to go down. It didn't look like I was going to be able to visit the thestrals today. I had so been looking forward to the visit, too, as a way to unwind after the stress of exams.

"What are you thinking about?" Neville whispered quietly.

"Nothing, obviously," Malfoy snorted.

"The thestrals," I answered, ignoring Malfoy's comment.

"Are you talking about those creepy things that Hagrid told us about in class before he got sacked?" Malfoy laughed.

"Yes, I like to feed them every once in a while," I said, peering at him.

"You _feed _them?" Malfoy looked revolted. "You mean you actually go see them by choice?"

"Oh yes," I answered. "They're really quite gentle and friendly once you-,"

"I'm sure," Malfoy said sarcastically as the other Slytherins laughed. "Any animal Hagrid's interested in isn't safe."

"Nobody asked you, Malfoy," Ron said suddenly. "You only think that because of Buckbeak."

"It brutally attacked me. I was hurt for weeks!" Malfoy said.

"You were faking it," Ginny spoke up. "Everyone could tell."

"Buckbeak was very gentle," I said, remembering the hippogriff from classes with Hagrid. Buckbeak had always been my favorite out of the hippogriffs.

"Whatever you say." Malfoy rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall, looking bored.

"I'm hungry," Ron said suddenly.

"Of course you are," Ginny snapped, "but this isn't the time for food. We haven't even got any."

"I have some in my pockets," Ron said. "If I could just get it out…" he tried to tug his arm away from Goyle with no luck.

Malfoy nodded to Goyle, who stuck his own hand into Ron's pocket.

"Oi!" Ron yelled, trying to step on Goyle's foot to stop him, but Goyle pulled out a handful of candy from Ron's pocket anyway.

"You know, Weasley," Malfoy said, taking the handful of candy from Goyle's hand and passing them out to the Slytherins, "I think the ones doing all of the guard work should be the ones to eat, don't you think? Guarding you people is such hard work."

"What kind of candy is that, Ron?" I asked. It didn't look like any candy I had ever seen before, but at the same time, there was something familiar about it.

"Who cares? It's food and I'm hungry," Crabbe said.

The Slytherins stuck the candies in their mouths and within seconds, they began to develop terrible nosebleeds. They were forced to let go of us so that they could cover their noses.

"What did you give us, Weasley?" Malfoy asked, holding his hands underneath his nose.

"I didn't give you anything," Ron said with a smirk as he grabbed Harry and Hermione's wands off of the desk. "You took them." He turned to the rest of us. "Let's go."

I paused long enough to grab Neville's hand as we ran out of the castle. We were halfway across the lawn when we spotted Harry and Hermione coming out of the forest without Umbridge.

"How did you escape?" Hermione asked.

"We passed out Nosebleed Nougats," Ron said, handing Hermione and Harry back their wands.

"It was Ron's idea," Ginny said. "It was quite brilliant, really."

"I said I was hungry and of course Malfoy and the others took all the candy for themselves, being the greedy gits they are."

"Brilliant, Ron," Hermione said, blinking in surprise.

"What happened to Umbridge?" Neville asked, looking around as if he expected her to pop out from behind a tree.

"She got carried away by a herd of centaurs," Harry answered.

"And they didn't do anything to you?" Ginny asked.

"Well, Grawp chased them away or else I suspect they would have," Hermione said.

"Who's Grawp?" I asked.

"Hagrid's little brother. Half brother, I think, actually," Ron answered quickly.

"Oh I didn't know Hagrid had a brother. How nice. Why is he living in the forest?"

"He's a giant," Harry said.

"Is he really? Dad says giant's skin is-,"

"Anyway," Ron interrupted, "Harry, what did you find out in the fire? Does You-Know-Who have Sirius or not?"

"Yes," Harry said quickly, rubbing his forehead. "I'm sure he's still alive, but we have to get to the Ministry before it's too late."

"And how exactly are we going to get there?" Ginny asked, crossing her arms.

"We fly of course," I said with a smile.

Everyone looked at me. "What?" Hermione asked.

"First of all," Harry snapped, "'we' aren't doing anything if you're including yourself and secondly, Ron's the only one with a broomstick that isn't being guarded by a security troll, so-,"

"Don't talk to her like that," Neville said, squeezing my hand and stepping closer.

"It's alright, Neville," I answered. "Harry's just having one of those days."

"I have a broom," Ginny said, frowning.

"You three aren't coming." Harry looked at Ginny, Neville and I.

"I care about Sirius as much as you do!" Ginny's voice was rising.

"You're too—," Harry began.

"Luna and I are three years older than you were when you fought You-Know-Who over the Sorcerer's Stone and Neville is four years older than you were."

"Yeah, great math, but-," Harry tried again.

"We were all in the DA together," Neville said quietly, staring directly at Harry. "It was all supposed to be about fighting You-Know-Who, wasn't it? And this is the first chance we've had to do something real—or was that all just a game or something?" His voice had gone steadily louder as he spoke until he had reached a normal volume.

"Of course it wasn't," Harry said impatiently.

"Then we should come," Neville said as if that settled it. "We want to help."

"That's right," I said, smiling happily.

"Well that's great and all but it doesn't matter anyway because we still don't know how we're getting to the Ministry!" Harry threw up his hands in exasperation.

"I already told you," I said with only a small hint of annoyance. "We can fly there."

"Look," Ron snapped, "you might be able to fly without a broomstick but the rest of us can't sprout wings whenever we-,"

"There are other ways of flying besides using brooms," I interrupted.

"What, are we going to ride on the back of the Kacky Snorgle or-,"

"Snorkack," Neville said.

Everyone silently stared at him.

"It's the Crumple Horned Snorkack," he said quietly.

I grinned. "Yes, and they can't fly." I laughed quietly and shook my head at Ron. "But I know another creature that can. Come on."

I tugged on Neville's hand and together we led the way into the forest. It looked as if I would get to visit the thestrals after all.

I'm sure Neville knew where we were going, but he didn't say anything. Finally, we reached the clearing where the thestrals usually were. Only two of them were there at the moment, but I hoped more would come. If only I had some food with me.

"Here we are," I said, pointing. "They can fly and Hagrid says they're very good at finding places their riders are looking for."

"Of course," Harry said. He looked at me and I knew he was remembering our talk at the beginning of the year when he had seen me feeding the thestrals.

"Is it those crazy horse things?" asked Ron, sounding nervous. "The ones you can't see unless you've watched someone snuff it?"

"Yeah, those are the ones," Harry said, reaching out to pat a thestral.

"How many?" Ron asked.

"Just two."

"Well, we need three," Hermione said, looking uneasy but determined.

"Four," Ginny said angrily.

"Six," I said calmly, doing a quick head count.

"Don't be stupid, we can't all go!" Harry said. "Look, you three," he pointed at Neville, Ginny and I, "you're not involved in this. You aren't-,"

"We were involved in Dumbledore's Army," Neville protested.

"That's right," I said. "Isn't this kind of like our Dumbledore's Army final exam? To test ourselves and see what we've learned?"

"No, it's real life stuff, Luna. It's serious," Harry answered.

"Which is kind of like what you said at the first DA meeting," Ginny said. "Or did you forget already? You gave us that whole speech on how real life was different than school and how you don't get a second chance."

"I thought the whole point of the DA was to learn to defend ourselves against what's out there," Neville added. "In _real life_."

"Fine," Harry answered. "It's your choice, but unless we can find more thestrals, you're not going to be able to-,"

"More will come," Ginny said. "You and Hermione have blood on you. Hagrid always used raw meat to lure them."

"Yes they do rather like raw meat," I said.

"Okay, so Ron and I will take these two and go on ahead," Harry said. "Hermione can stay here and lure more of them."

"I'm not staying behind," Hermione sniffed.

"There's no need," I said. "More are coming now. You two must really smell."

Sure enough, about six more thestrals were making their way through the trees. I smiled and patted one on the nose as it nudged my shoulder.

"Okay, fine, pick one and get on," Harry said.

I beamed and turned to the thestral standing behind me, rubbing his nose.

"Need any help getting on?" Neville asked.

"That's alright, Neville," I answered, climbing onto the thestral's back. I smiled down at Neville as I gave the thestral another gentle pat.

I watched as Harry struggled onto his thestral's back by using a tree stump. "Good thinking, Harry," I said seriously.

Neville was lying on his stomach across another thestral's back. The thestral was walking around in circles as if he were trying to chase Neville's legs that were dangling over one side. He kept trying to swing one of his legs aver the thestral's back. I giggled and slid off my thestral to go and help him.

"How are we supposed to get on when we can't see the things?" Ron asked.

I glanced over my shoulder from where I was helping Neville's leg over the thestral's back to see Ron, Ginny and Hermione staring around blankly.

"Oh it's not so hard," I said. "Come here, I'll help you."

I took Ron's hand first and led him to the nearest thestral. "Stand on that tree stump," I said, pointing to the one Harry had used. Ron stood on it and I helped him to get onto the thestral. I did the same for Hermione and Ginny. All three of them looked nervous.

"This is mad," Ron whispered, looking around. "I can't see the thing, but I can feel it."

"Are we all ready then?" Harry asked as I returned to my thestral.

We nodded and Harry stared down at his own thestral. "Er," he began, "we need to go to the Ministry of Magic visitors' entrance in London, then. Er, please. If you know where to go..."

The thestrals were still for a second before, all at once, they swooped off the ground and flew at a steep incline towards the sky.

I giggled and leaned forward, hugging the thestral's neck. Soon we had left the covering of the trees and were flying high above them.

I looked to my left and saw Neville, holding on for dear life. He kept squeezing his eyes shut and then opening them as if he couldn't decide which way was better.

"This is bizarre," Ron yelled from somewhere behind me. I wondered how it must feel to be floating through the air and not being able to see what was supporting you.

The ride to London was surprisingly short. Well, technically, it probably wasn't all that short, but it felt that way to me. We reached our destination right as it was getting dark. The thestrals changed direction suddenly and plummeted downwards. I heard Hermione scream loudly.

Harry reached the ground first and slid off of his thestral. I landed beside of him and gracefully slid down to the ground. Hermione and Ginny both looked terrified as they slowly maneuvered off of the creatures that were invisible to them.

Ron and Neville's landings were much less graceful. Ron instantly toppled right off the thestral and onto the ground. "No more. Never again," he said breathlessly, pulling himself to his feet and dusting himself off. "That may have been the worst thing I have ever experienced."

Neville leaned over the side of the thestral as if measuring how far it was to the ground. In the process, he slipped and wound up clinging sideways to the thestral. He let go and fell to the ground.

"I'm okay," he said, jumping to his feet and grinning at us.

"I'm sure you are, Neville," I said, taking his hand. "Anyway, Harry, where do we go next?"

Harry looked around. "This way!" He led us to a telephone booth across the street and opened the door. "Come on."

Ron and Ginny went in first. Neville, Hermione and I followed, squishing ourselves together in order to fit. Harry squeezed in last. There was barely enough room for him. I was flattened against the telephone booth wall. Someone stepped on my foot.

"Sorry," Harry mumbled.

"That's quite alright," I answered.

"Whoever's nearest the receiver," Harry said in a louder voice, "dial six two four four two."

Ron was closest, so he did it. No sooner had he finished than a voice sounded throughout the telephone booth. We all looked around as if we could figure out where it was coming from, but there was nothing.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business," the voice said.

"Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger," Harry said quickly, "Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood. We're here to save someone!"

"Thank you. Visitors, please take your badges."

There was a clattering as badges appeared in the spot where the returned coins usually came out. Hermione took them and passed them out.

"'Luna Lovegood: Rescue Mission'," I read. "That sounds lovely." With a smile, I pinned the badge to my shirt, adjusting it so that it was straight.

"Visitors to the Ministry," said the mysterious voice, "you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."

"Fine, great," Harry yelled impatiently. "Now can we move, please?"

The telephone booth began to move downwards; we were basically sinking into the ground. I watched with wide eyes as the pavement slid past the windows and we were submerged in darkness.

A moment later, a small beam of light hit our shoes. The light grew larger and larger as we descended further and further into the Minsitry.

When we reached the ground, Harry opened the door and we all poured out of the cramped space. "The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant evening," said the mysterious voice before the telephone booth began to move upwards once again.

"Okay, come on," Harry commanded after a few seconds of silence.

We hurried across the Atrium towards a row of lifts. As we passed the large fountain in the center of the room, I couldn't help but stop and look into the shimmering water. The bottom glittered with coins. A sign next to the fountain read _All proceeds from the Fountain of Magical Brethen will be given to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries._

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a few Sickles. I turned so that my back was to the fountain and closed my eyes.

"Luna!" yelled an impatient voice before I could toss in the coins.

I opened my eyes and turned. Everyone was standing by the lifts and Harry was gesturing for me to hurry up.

"I have to throw in at least something," I said. "Everything goes to St. Mungo's and on top of that, don't you know it's bad luck to pass a fountain and _not_ throw money into it?"

"I wasn't aware," Harry answered impatiently.

I closed my eyes again and took a deep breath. I heard footsteps beside me and opened my eyes again. It was Neville.

I handed him one of the Sickles in my hand. "For double the luck," I said with a smile. "I have a feeling we might need it."

"For double the luck," he repeated, raising his hand to throw the coin in.

I stopped him. "Wait, Neville, you have to stand with your back to the fountain and throw the coin over your shoulder. Otherwise, it's not as lucky."

Neville stood as I had directed and took my hand. "Ready?" he asked.

"Oi, let's get a move on!" yelled Ron. "Sirius isn't getting any safer!"

"Ron," snapped Hermione in a warning tone.

"On the count of three," I said, ignoring Ron. "One…two…three!"

Neville and I tossed our coins over our shoulders. I heard them splash into the water so I turned just in time to see them drifting peacefully to the bottom.


	20. Chapter 20

"Can we go now?" Harry hissed.

"Of course," I answered, as calm as ever. Neville and I caught up with the others and we squeezed into one of the lifts. Harry pressed one of the buttons a few times repeatedly.

"Come on, come on," he muttered under his breath.

"I don't think pressing the buttons like that will make it move faster," I pointed out as we began to move. "That just might break it, actually."

Ginny snorted out a laugh as Harry shot me an exasperated look.

The rest of the ride was silent except for the rattling sound that the lift made as it moved; a loud, rattling sound.

When we finally jerked to a stop, the mysterious female voice said, "Department of Mysteries," in such a calm, almost monotone voice that it seemed as if this whole thing was completely normal and not mysterious at all.

"Let's go," Harry whispered, leading the way out into the hallway. Nobody else moved right away so I followed him, looking around at the walls and ceiling. It was rather eerie down here. The place was really living up to its name.

"Okay, listen," Harry said, stopping suddenly at the end of the hallway in front of a door. "Maybe some of us should stay behind. You know, right here, as a lookout."

"And how do you expect us to let you know if someone's coming?" Ginny asked. "You could be far away and I don't think yelling your name would be much help."

"We're coming with you, Harry," Neville said, as I nodded at his side.

"Yes, we came all this way. We didn't do it so we could stand out here in this hallway."

"Fine, then let's get on with it," Harry said, spinning to face the door. He put his hand on the knob and it swung open. We followed closely behind him and crowded just inside the doorway of a circular room, full of doors.

"Someone shut the door," Harry ordered. Neville was closest, so he reached behind him and pushed the door shut. The room fell into almost total darkness. The only light came from the crack under the door and the small amount of light provided by torches on the wall.

Suddenly, there was a rumbling sound and the walls began to move. I squeezed Neville's hand as if I was making sure he hadn't gone anywhere.

"What was that about?" whispered Ron once the walls had finally stopped spinning.

"I think it was to stop us from knowing which door we came in from," Ginny answered.

I looked around the room. It seemed like Ginny was right. I had no idea which door was the one we had come in from.

"Well how are we going to get back out?" Neville asked. He sounded a little uncomfortable.

"We just have to find the right door, don't we?" I asked. "It's quite simple."

"Simple?" Ron asked. "All the doors are exactly the same! It might take forever to find the right one."

"Well we'll have to get it eventually, right?" I shrugged.

"It doesn't matter how we're going to get out right now," Harry said, waving his hand around. "Right now we have to worry about moving forward and finding Sirius."

"So where do we go, then?" Ron asked.

"We'll have to try a few doors," Harry shrugged. "Just like Luna suggested, only we're not looking for an exit. We're looking for a room that kind of…glitters. I'll know it when I see it."

He crossed the room to the door directly across from us and pushed it open. We all crowded behind him and looked over his shoulders, trying to see inside. The only thing in the room was a large glass tank filled with greenish water and a few shiny white objects, floating around aimlessly.

"What are they?" whispered Ron, tilting his head.

"I don't know," shrugged Harry.

"Are they fish?" Ginny asked.

"Aquavirus maggots!" I said in an excited whisper. "Dad told me all about them. He said the Ministry was breeding-,"

"—No, they're brains," Hermione cut me off.

"Brains?" Ron asked.

"Yes, brains," she answered.

"Are you sure? They really look like aquavirus maggots," I said. "It would make sense. Dad did say they were being bred by the Ministry."

"Luna," Neville said quietly. I looked up and he gave his head the smallest of shakes. I barely even noticed, but I sighed and kept my mouth shut after that. I suppose now really wasn't the time to get into a discussion about the contents of the tank.

"Let's get out of here," Harry said. "This isn't the right room. We need to try another door."

"There are doors in this room, too, though," I said, pointing across the room to the other doors lining the walls.

Harry's shoulders slumped. "How big is this place?" he asked under his breath.

"Well," Hermione said, "didn't you say you went right from the circular room into the glittering room? So we should go back and try more doors. Forget about this room."

I was the last one out, but before I could shut the door, Hermione stopped me. "Flagrate!" she said, pointing her wand at the door and drawing an 'X' shape. A fiery mark appeared on the door and as soon as it had clicked shut, the room began to move again, but when it stopped, the 'X' was still there, showing that we had already tried that door.

"Good thinking," Harry said. "Alright, let's try this one next."

He chose another door and opened it, his wand raised. I peered under his raised arm to see inside the room. The room was set up so that the middle part of the floor was a lot lower than the edges. It was almost like we were in one of those Muggle places called stadiums. There were stone benches and steps lining the walls and descending into the middle of the room, each one getting lower than the last.

In the very center of the room, way down below us was a stone archway with a curtain hanging from the middle of it. The curtain was fluttering as if there were a breeze, but the air was still.

Harry began to scramble down over the benches towards the archway. I dropped Neville's hand and slowly made my way after him, staring open mouthed at the arch. I could hear whispers coming from inside it, voices. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but I could hear them.

"Let's just go," Hermione said, from the top of the stone steps. "This doesn't seem right, Harry."

"Luna?" Neville called down to me. He sounded scared.

I didn't answer, but I stood next to Harry and stared up at the arch.

"Someone's whispering behind there," Harry said, pointing.

"No one's talking, Harry," Hermione said, sounding frightened as well.

"Can't anyone else hear it?" Harry demanded.

"I can hear them," I said quietly. "There are people _in there_."

"In there?" Neville asked.

"In there," I repeated.

"What do you mean, 'in there'?" Hermione asked. "There is no 'in there'. It's an archway. Harry, come on."

Harry didn't move. I began to slowly back away. Someone grabbed my hand and I turned to see that Neville had come up behind me. "Come on," he whispered, leading me away from the arch. I took one last look back as we climbed the steps.

"Harry, we're here for Sirius," Hermione said.

That seemed to work. Harry tore his eyes away from the archway and raced up the steps towards us.

Entering the circular room again, we tried another door. This was beginning to get tiresome, having to go back and forth from the circular room into other rooms. I hoped we would find the right door soon.

"It's locked," Harry said, shoving himself against the door.

"Then this has to be it, then, right?" Ron asked excitedly.

"I don't know," Harry said, his voice strained as he kept trying to get the door to open.

"Oh, move _over_!" Hermione demanded, pushing Harry out of the way and pulling out her wand. "Alohomora!" Nothing happened.

"Aha, Hermione," Ron said, pointing at her. "Looks like that spell didn't work this time."

Hermione shot him a glare and he clamped his mouth shut.

"Sirius's knife!" Harry said, snapping his fingers. He pulled out a pocket knife and slid it into the crack between the door and the wall. He ran it from top to bottom before stepping back and flinging himself at the door again. He smashed right into it. The door didn't open.

"I don't think your knife worked, Harry," I said.

"What gave you that impression?" he asked sarcastically, rubbing his shoulder.

"It's melted, too," I added, pointing at the pocket knife. Sure enough, the blade had melted.

"Well, we're leaving this room alone," Hermione said, marking it with an 'X'.

"What if it's the one?" Ron asked.

"It can't be. In Harry's dream, all of the doors opened for him," Hermione reasoned.

"You know what could be in there?" I asked, tapping my chin thoughtfully as everyone moved on to the next door.

"Something blibbering, no doubt," Hermione mumbled. Ron gave a small, nervous laugh.

"Blibbering animals wouldn't be able to survive down here. They usually like the sunlight," I told Neville, the only person who was still standing next to me. My voice was a whisper and I smiled a half smile. It was difficult dealing with so many skeptics.

Neville didn't say anything. He just rubbed my shoulder before taking my hand and leading me after the others.

"This is it!" Harry said as he opened the next door.

"It's about time," Ginny said.

This room was a room full of clocks of all shapes and sizes. A constant ticking noise filled the room as the clocks ticked, all at different times. We crossed the room to another door. "It's right through here," Harry said excitedly. He pushed the door and it swung open at once.

My mouth dropped open. We were in a dimly lit room with a ceiling so high that it appeared to have no end. The entire room was filled with what looked like equally as tall shelves that were full of small, dusty, glass orbs that gave off a bluish glow. We lit our wands and took a few steps forward. I shivered. This room was a lot colder than the others had been. Neville moved closer to me and pulled me close to him so that I would feel warmer.

"Let's go," Harry said. He was saying that a lot tonight, I noticed. "Sirius is in row ninety-seven."

"Sorry," Neville whispered as we were forced to let go of each other so that we could follow Harry, who was running ahead.

"Ninety-five…ninety-six…ninety-seven!" Harry skidded to a stop and turned left down an aisle. The rest of us stopped at the end, breathing heavily from running and looked at Harry, standing alone at the end of the row.

"He was right here," Harry mumbled, spinning in circles and shining his lit wand all over the place. "Right here."

"Harry," Hermione said quietly. I could tell she didn't want to state the obvious. Sirius wasn't here.

Harry stopped spinning and looked at the ground. "He was here," he said again.

"Harry," Ron said suddenly, causing us all to look up. I hadn't even notice Ron wander a few feet away, but he had and he was looking at one of the bluish orbs with great interest. "Have you seen this?"

"Seen what?" Harry asked, not moving.

"This," Ron pointed to the orb, "has your name on it."

"What do you mean it has my na-?" Harry stepped over to Ron and stopped midsentence as he saw that Ron was right.

"What does it say, exactly?" I asked.

"It says," Harry began, standing on tiptoe to read the small plaque under the orb. "'S.P.T to A.P.W.B.D. Dark Lord and Harry Potter'. Then there's a question mark in parentheses."

"I don't think you should touch it," Hermione advised as Harry reached out a hand.

"It has my name on it, Hermione. If it were your name, wouldn't you be curious?"

"Yes, but you don't know what it is," she argued.

"Don't, Harry," Neville said suddenly. He was shaking his head. "Hermione's right. You don't know what could happen if you touch it."

"It could be infested with-," I began.

"It's my name," Harry said in a whisper, reaching his hand out further.

I instinctively held in a breath as Harry's fingers inched towards the orb. I could hear Neville do the same.

As if in slow motion, Harry reached out the rest of the way and closed his fingers on the orb. Almost at once, a voice spoke behind us. "Very good, Potter. Now, turn around nice and slowly, and give that to me."

How lovely. We had company.


	21. Chapter 21

_"Only rainbows after rain, the sun will always come again." _**-_Keep Your Head Up _by Andy Grammer **

**A/N: This song always makes me think of Luna and her positivity even in the darkest parts of the books :)**

**Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing and adding the story to their favorites/alerts! Keep it up!**

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><p>I recognized the man standing behind us almost at once. It was almost hard <em>not <em>to recognize him. He was a known Death Eater and besides that, he shared many features with his son. It was Lucius Malfoy.

He held out his hand and motioned for Harry to hand over the glass ball. "Give it to me," he repeated.

"Harry," Hermione hissed, tugging on his sleeve. I looked up and saw other masked Death Eaters heading towards us from all directions, making sure we wouldn't be able to run. We stood in a circle, aiming our wands at the Death Eaters. Harry stayed where he was, staring back at Lucius Malfoy.

"Where's Sirius?" he asked.

The Death Eaters just laughed.

"I know you've got him. He's here," Harry said.

"I think it's time you learned the difference between life and dreams, Potter," Lucius Malfoy said quietly. "Now, hand over that prophecy."

"If you do anything to us, I'll break it," Harry answered at once.

A female laugh rang out loudly throughout the room. I looked over my shoulder to see someone behind Lucius step forward. "He knows how to play, itty bitty baby Potter!" She pulled off her hood and I instantly looked at Neville. I had recognized her immediately.

"Bellatrix Lestrange," Neville said.

"Neville Longbottom, isn't it?" she asked, an amused expression flitting over her face. "How are mum and dad?"

"Better now that they're about to be avenged," Neville answered, raising his wand.

I grabbed his hand at the same time Harry pushed Neville's outstretched arm down. Bellatrix had raised her own wand and Lucius was slowly pushing it back down.

"Let's just all calm down, shall we?" he said, his voice low. "We only want that prophecy."

"Why did Voldemort send me down here to get it?" Harry asked, turning the glass ball, what the Death Eaters were calling a prophecy, in his hands.

"You dare speak his name? You, a filthy half blood, dare to-,"

"Did you know he's a half blood too?" Harry interrupted. "Or has he been telling you lot that he's pureblood?"

Bellatrix raised her wand again, but Malfoy stopped her. For a second, nobody moved.

"So, you need more persuasion, it seems," Bellatrix said when it became clear that Harry wasn't moving to hand them what they wanted. "Very well, why don't we take one of the girls? The redhead, perhaps?" She tilted her head and looked at Ginny. "Or maybe the blonde."

The others closed in around me and Ginny. Neville pulled me behind him and raised his wand again. This time, Harry didn't push his arm down.

"I've told you that this is going to be smashed if you touch any of us," he said with a small shrug as he looked down at the object in his hands. He looked up at the Death Eaters again. "I don't think your boss will be too pleased if you come back without it, will he?"

There was another moment of total silence where nobody moved. Finally, Harry spoke again.

"So, what's so important about this prophecy?"

Malfoy laughed and blinked a few times. "Do not play games with us, Harry Potter."

"No games," he answered, raising his eyebrows.

"Dumbledore never told you that the entire reason you have that scar was hidden here, in the Department of Mysteries?"

"What? What about my scar?" Harry asked.

"Can this be?" Malfoy asked, sounding shocked, but delighted. The Death Eaters were laughing again. I noticed Harry turn and whisper something to Hermione while they were distracted.

Malfoy was saying something else not, but I had diverted my attention to Hermione, who was now whispering something to Ron, trying to move her lips as little as possible. I wondered what Harry had told them.

"The only people," I heard Malfoy say, "who are permitted to retrieve a prophecy from the Department of Mysteries are those about whom it was made."

Ron lightly tapped my foot with his and I looked over at him.

"When Harry says go," he whispered, his eyes on the Death Eaters over my shoulder and his lips barely moving, "start smashing the shelves. Pass it on."

I nodded and stood on my tiptoes to whisper into Neville's ear. I relayed the message and he nodded before turning to Ginny.

"Why does he want a prophecy about me?" Harry was asking.

"About both of you," Malfoy corrected. "Haven't you ever wondered why he tried to kill you as a baby? Don't you want to know the secret behind that scar? All of the answers are there in your hand. All you have to do is give it to me and I can show you."

"I've waited fourteen years," Harry said.

"I know," Malfoy said sympathetically, although I suspected he wasn't the least bit sympathetic.

"I guess I can wait a little longer. Now!"

The room was filled with six different voices yelling the same spell. Everyone turned and ran. I had no idea where to go and it was hard to see with prophecies falling and spells being shot from every direction, but I saw someone running up ahead of me and I followed them.

I came to an abrupt stop, almost smashing into Ginny. The others had stopped too and I saw why almost at once. Lucius Malfoy had appeared in front of them, blocking their path and holding out his hand.

Harry ran down an aisle to the left and the others followed. I meant to follow as well, but I could feel someone standing behind me. I turned and found myself face to face with another Death Eater. Before I could do anything, he hit me and I fell to the ground. I could feel blood trickling from my lip, but there was no time to worry about that now. The Death Eater was coming closer and closer. I used the first spell I could think of. "Stupefy!"

The spell missed him and hit the shelves over his shoulder. Prophecies fell and crashed to the floor. I used the Death Eater's momentary distraction to send another Stunning spell at him. This time, it hit him and I took the opportunity to get up and run.

I paused at the end of an aisle. I could either go left or right, but I had no idea which way the others had gone. Thankfully, I had the perfect solution.

I held my hand out flat, palm up, and placed my wand in it. With my other hand, I spun my wand. Whatever way it pointed would be the way I would go. The wand spun for a second before stopping. It was pointing back the way I had come. That was no help at all. I tried again. This time the wand was pointing right. With a smile, I ran in that direction.

Within a few moments, I saw two people up ahead. I recognized Neville fighting a Death Eater.

"Petrificus Totalus." Neville stared as the Death Eater became as still as stone and he fell to the ground. The only things moving were his eyes, shifting from left to right.

"Well done, Neville," I said, taking his hand and pulling him away. He kept glancing over his shoulder.

"That was cool, wasn't it?" he finally said with a smile.

"Oh yes, it was very good," I said. "I don't think he'll be going anywhere for quite awhile."

Neville smiled and we continued to run. "Any idea where we're going?" he asked.

"No," I said, "but hold on." I stopped and placed my wand in my hand again.

"Luna, whatever you're doing, we don't have time!"

I looked up to see Neville looking over my shoulder. I turned around. More Death Eaters were coming towards us.

Neville took my hand this time and pulled me down another aisle. We kept running until we collided with the others again. Thank goodness. This place was very big.

We stood in a circle, catching our breath. No Death Eaters were in sight.

"Your lip," Neville said, touching it with his finger. When he pulled his hand away, I saw the blood that I had expected was trickling from my lip now on his hand.

"Oh yes, one of them hit me, but it doesn't hurt much. I can barely feel it anymore."

"He hit you?" Neville asked.

"Yes, but don't worry. I stunned him."

"If you hadn't, I would have," Neville said.

"Look," Hermione said suddenly.

A black mist was flying towards us rapidly. Another Death Eater.

"Reducto!" Ginny cried.

At once, prophecies at the other end of the aisle began to fall, and little by little, the rest of them began to fall. It was quite interesting to watch; various sized glowing, glass balls falling off the shelves as they collapsed. It looked like a giant glowing tidal wave.

I was so absorbed in watching the falling prophecies that I hadn't noticed the others had moved. It wasn't until Neville grabbed my hand and dragged me backwards that I snapped out of it and began to run.

"Get back to the door!" Harry was yelling.

The tidal wave of falling prophecies and collapsing shelves were catching up to us, and soon we were covering our heads to avoid the falling debris, an action that made it necessary for me to let go of Neville's hand. I had no idea where I was going, but I managed to keep my eyes on Ginny's red hair in front of me.

Soon, I saw a door up ahead. I didn't know where it led, but I hoped it was the exit. I wasn't really enjoying running from falling glass objects and Death Eaters.

I burst into the room and stopped to catch my breath. Ron ran in behind me and slammed the door shut, locking it.

"What did you do that for?"

I turned and saw Ginny standing behind me. "Oh, hello, Ginny. I didn't know you were in here," I said.

"I am," she answered, "and you are, and so is Ron, but I don't know where the others are and now Ron has gone and locked the door."

"I can go and unlock it. Don't get your knickers in a twist." Ron went to unlock the door, but before he could, someone slammed into it from the other side and began pounding.

"It's locked!" shouted a gruff voice.

"I don't think that's Harry," I said, looking at the other two.

"Where is he anyway? I thought he was behind us with Neville and Hermione," Ginny frowned.

"I thought he was ahead of us," Ron said.

"I didn't know where they were," I shrugged. Ginny and Ron looked at me. "It was rather difficult to see anything." More silence.

"Well, which door?" Ron asked.

I looked around. We were back in the room with all the doors. Hermione's 'X's' had faded, so all the doors were the same again.

"Hopefully we can get to the exit and wait for the others there," Ron continued.

"No," Ginny said as if Ron were mental. "We're going to look for the others. They might need our help."

"That's right," I said, nodding. "I'd very much like to know if they're okay."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Ron mumbled.

"So, back to your earlier question," Ginny said. "Which door?"

I put my wand in the palm of my hand again and spun it.

"What in the name of Merlin's pointy hat are you-?" Ron began, but Ginny shushed him.

"That door," I said, pointing towards the one my wand tip had stopped on.

We had just started towards it when the door we had ran through burst open and four Death Eaters ran in after us.

"Get them!" one of them shouted.

"Let's go," Ron whimpered.

We ran into the next room and for a moment we all stopped short. It was a very dark room filled with planets. Besides the planets, everything was dark and black. It looked as if we were just floating in midair.

Unfortunately, our hesitation cost us. We hadn't shut the door and the Death Eaters ran in after us. They didn't seem fazed by the unusual room and ran straight for us.

"There's another door down there!" Ginny pointed across the room.

We ran for it, but encountered another surprise. After a few more feet, the floor seemed to stop and we were floating in the dark. It was as if the entire middle section of the room had no floor or gravity.

One of the Death Eaters reached out and grabbed Ginny's ankle. I grabbed her hand and pulled, but it was no use.

I tried a different approach. I aimed my wand at one of the planets above the Death Eater's head. "Reducto!"

The planet blew up in his face, but as a result, his hand must have twisted Ginny's ankle. I heard a crack and a scream, but there was no time to stop.

"How are we going to cross the room?" Ron asked.

"Use your arms and hands!" I said, demonstrating. It looked as if we were swimming, but it worked.

"They're getting closer!" Ron shouted.

I looked behind me. The Death Eaters were using their arms to propel themselves towards us.

"They look very silly. I can only imagine what we look like," I said.

"Never mind that," Ron answered. "Let's just get out of here!"

A jet of light soared over my shoulder, narrowly missing my head. Instead, it hit Ron. He stopped in midair and looked dazedly at the ceiling.

"Ron!" Ginny gasped. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Is that Uranus?" Ron asked. His voice was feeble and dazed.

"Excuse me?" Ginny asked.

"Uranus," Ron said, the word coming out in almost a sigh as he pointed above Ginny's head to one of the planets.

"I believe it is," I answered.

Ron began to giggle. "Oh, that's funny. I want to get a closer look at Uranus."

He began using his arms to try to reach the planet, but Ginny grabbed his hand. I looked behind us. The Death Eaters were huffing and puffing as they tried to reach us. If we didn't hurry, they would catch us.

"Come on, Ron," I said. I took his hand from Ginny, who was very pale. I wasn't sure how she was going to walk or run with her ankle the way it was once we got on the ground. Ron wasn't going to be much help either. I wondered how I was going to manage both of them and get all of us to safety completely on my own.

"No, I want to see Uranus," Ron was insisting. He tugged on my hand to try and get me to move. Then, he burst into giggles.

"Luna's taken, Ron," Ginny snorted. I turned a bright pink.

Ron kept giggling. I used my free arm to float towards the other side of the room, dragging Ron with me.

"Look, there's a star!" Ron said. "Make a wish!"

I had already made a wish back at the fountain that we'd all make it out okay, but I found myself taking Ron's advice and making my second wish in one night. I looked up at the star and wished with all my heart that the others were okay and that soon I could feel Neville's hand in mine again.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: I hope everyone likes this chapter. It was a lot of fun to write; the Department of Mysteries scene is one of my favorites. Don't forget to review!**

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><p>It took longer than it should have, but we finally hit the ground on the other side. Ginny leaned against the wall, squeezing her eyes shut.<p>

"Here, I'll help you," I said. I had her lean against my shoulder and I held Ron's hand in my free one. We hobbled along, dragging Ron for the most part, until we toppled through the door and into another room. Ginny used her wand to shut and lock the door, at least hindering the Death Eaters for a little while. I breathed a small sigh of relief. We had made it. For now, at least. Now we just had to find the others.

"You have radishes in your ears," Ron said giggling.

"They're earrings, Ron," Ginny said. She looked at me. "I wonder what they hit him with."

"I don't know," I said as we slowly made our way across the room. Thankfully this room only had one door, but it was going to take us ages to get to it at the rate we were going.

"I like them," Ron said, referring to the radish earrings.

"I'm glad," I told him. "Neville gave me mistletoe ones, too."

"_Really_?" Ron gasped. "Can I have them?"

"Well, no," I answered, "seeing as they are rather special to me and I'm not sure you'd appreciate them as much once this spell wears off."

"Isn't your name Loony Lovegood?" Ron asked, trying to stop and pick up something off the ground.

"No, it's Luna," Ginny said in an annoyed tone.

"It's quite alright, Ginny," I said, gently tugging Ron's hand. "I'm used to it."

We finally reached the door and Ginny used her free arm to fling it open. We hurried through it and found ourselves in the room full of doors again, but this time, Harry, Hermione and Neville were there. Harry was supporting an unconscious Hermione and Neville had blood all over his face.

"Luna!" Neville cried as I let go of Ron and Ginny. He ran to me and grabbed me in a hug, spinning me around.

"Hello Neville," I said. "What happened to you?"

"One of dem kicked me id the face," Neville said. From the way he looked and sounded, I could tell his nose was broken.

"Oh, Neville," I said quietly. "I could fix it for you. I've never done it before, but I've done toes and-,"

"Now's not the time!" Harry said suddenly. "Neville, can you take Hermione?"

Neville went back to Harry and lifted Hermione over his shoulder.

"What happened to you three?" Harry asked.

"Harry," Ron giggled. He wobbled over to Harry and grabbed the front of his shirt. "There you are. Ha, ha, ha, you look funny, Harry."

"Ginny?" Harry asked, looking up at her, but she was leaning against the wall again, her face even paler. She shook her head and slid down to the floor, breathing deeply through her nose.

I knelt down beside her. "I think her ankle's broken. I heard something crack," I whispered. "Four of them chased us into a dark room full of planets. It was a very odd place. Most of the time we were just floating in the dark."

"Harry, we saw Uranus up close!" Ron giggled. "Get it? We saw Uranus!"

"Yes, Ron was very fascinated with Uranus," I said. I scrunched my nose up after I had spoken. "That's a rather unfortunate name for a planet."

"Yeah," Harry said quickly, "so then what happened?"

"So then one of them grabbed Ginny's foot. I used the Reductor curse and blew up Pluto in his face, but…" I trailed off and gestured to Ginny's ankle.

"What about Ron?" Harry asked.

"I don't know what they hit him with," I answered, "but he's gone a bit funny. I could hardly get him along at all."

"Harry," Ron gasped, pulling on Harry's shirt so that he could whisper into his friend's ear. "Do you know who she is? She's Loony Lovegood. Ha, ha…"

"We've got to get out of here," Harry said, squeezing his eyes shut and prying Ron's hands off of him. "Luna, can you help Ginny?"

"Yes," I said. I stuck my wand behind my ear so that both of my hands were free. "Harry?" I asked. "What happened to Hermione?"

"Don't know," Harry answered, "but she has a pulse."

"Oh, well a pulse is always good," I said, turning back to Ginny and pulling her up.

"I can do this myself, actually, Luna," Ginny said. She started to let go of me, but she instantly wobbled and I had to grab her again.

Harry pulled Ron's arm over his shoulders and stood him up. Now we just had to find the right door again.

"Let's just try this one," Harry said, walking towards a door. Before we could reach it, another door opened and Bellatrix Lestrange ran into the room, followed by three more Death Eaters. It seemed we couldn't make it out of a room before we were interrupted by Death Eaters.

Harry charged across the room to the door and flung Ron through it before turning and running to help Neville with Hermione. "You and Ginny get in there," he shouted at me.

I practically dragged Ginny through the door. We didn't have time to hobble around. Harry and Neville made it inside just in time to slam the door in Bellatrix's face.

"Take that," Neville whispered at the door.

"Colloportus," Harry said, sealing the door against the Death Eaters.

"It doesn't matter!" Bellatrix Lestrange yelled. "There are other ways in."

"We're in the brain room again," I said, looking around.

"Luna, Neville, help me seal the doors," Harry ordered. "We'll each take a wall." He gestured to the three other walls covered with doors.

Neville and I agreed and instantly began sealing doors as fast as we could. I was racing towards the last one, when it burst open. I caught a flash of dark, curly hair and heard a female voice yell "Impedimenta!" The next thing I knew, I was flying backwards. I smashed into something, a desk most likely, and that's the last thing I remember.

**Neville's Point of View**

"No!" I yelled. I don't think I had ever yelled that loud before, but that wasn't the point. Bellatrix had hurt Luna. There was no way I was going to let this woman anyone else away from me.

I charged towards Bellatrix with my wand held in the air. "Neville," I heard Harry say, but I didn't care.

I was stopped halfway across the room by Ron, who latched onto my arm. He giggled into my ear. "Neville," he whispered, "Loony said you gave her mistletoe earrings. Can you get me some?"

"Er, no," I said, still staring after Bellatrix, who was running for Harry. I hadn't meant to sound so blunt, but I was still angry.

Ron didn't seem to notice or care. "Have you seen these brains?" he asked. "Can I have one of them instead?"

"No, I don't think-," I said, turning towards him for the first time.

"Harry," Ron called, "have you seen these brains? Look at them, Harry."

"I can't right now, Ron, but I've seen them. Don't touch them, okay?" Harry said, as he dodged multiple stunning spells.

Ron ignored Harry and raised his wand. "Accio brain!"

"Ron, no!" Harry yelled. He had stopped dodging spells, but it didn't matter, because the Death Eaters had stopped as well to stare at Ron. One of the brains was soaring towards him.

"Look at it," Ron said in complete awe, as if he were witnessing a miracle. "Look at it go! How funny! Isn't it funny, Harry?" He caught the brain in his hands and at once, the long tentacles hanging from the brain began to wind their way up his arms. "No, I don't like it anymore. Make it stop."

"Diffindo!" Harry yelled, but the spell did nothing.

"Harry, it'll suffocate him!" yelled Ginny. I had almost forgotten she was there, sitting in the corner of the room, clutching her ankle.

Her sudden yell seemed to bring the Death Eaters out of their momentary distraction. One of them sent a stunning spell at her and she fell sideways to the ground, unconscious. It was just me and Harry now.

I ran towards Bellatrix, sending stunning spells at every Death Eater I passed. "Stubefy! Stubefy!" The word sounded odd because of my broken nose and because of that, the spell wasn't working. Besides that, I was using Hermione's wand since mine had been broken when the Death Eater kicked me and it felt kind of strange in my hand.

Bellatrix shot her own Stunning spell at me and I dodged it, missing it by inches. Harry ran by me, holding the prophecy above his head. He disappeared through the door the Death Eaters had originally come from and they followed him, Bellatrix bringing up the rear. I moved to stand in front of her, blocking her path.

"Out of my way, Longbottom," she said with an evil cackle, blasting me out of her way so that she could chase after Harry. I fell to the ground, banging my shoulder in the process. It was going to bruise, but other than that, I was unhurt. "By the way," Bellatrix added, pausing in the doorway. "The next time you visit mum and dad, tell them I said hello and ask if they remember me."

"Stubefy!" I yelled from the floor. Nothing happened, once again. Bellatrix smirked and practically danced from the room, cackling her head off the entire time.

As soon as she left, I bolted for Luna. The first thing I did was check for a pulse. She still had one. As she had said herself not too long ago, a pulse was always good. I smiled briefly at the memory and breathed a sigh of relief. I gingerly picked her up and turned to face Ron, who was still struggling with the brain. He was moving his arms up and down frantically, but the brain was holding on tight. It didn't seem to be wrapping any tighter around him, though, so I prayed he would be alright just so I could go help Harry. We would come back for him, Hermione and Ginny later.

"I'll be back, Ron," I said. "Don'd go adywhere." I doubted he would, but I felt the need to tell him anyway.

"Tell Harry these brains aren't as funny as I thought," Ron said.

"Okay, sure," I said. I walked into the next room, Luna still in my arms, and found myself in the archway room again. Harry was standing at the bottom of the stone steps, next to the archway. He was surrounded by a circle of Death Eaters. Lucius Malfoy stood a little apart from them, closer to Harry.

"You are not in a position to bargain, Potter," he said. "You see, there are ten of us and only one of you, or hasn't Dumbledore ever taught you how to count?"

"He's dot alone!" I yelled, wiping my nose on my sleeve. The blood had stopped flowing, but I could still feel it drying on my face. "He's still got me!" I set Luna down on the top step and scrambled the rest of the way down. I didn't know how I was going to stop the Death Eaters if my broken nose was making the spells worthless, but I had to try.

"Neville, no, go back and help Ron," Harry said.

"Stubefy!" I yelled. I turned in a circle, trying to stun each and every Death Eater, but it was no use. One of the biggest ones grabbed me from behind and pinned my arms to my sides. I swung my legs like crazy, trying to kick him, resulting in a chorus of laughter from the other Death Eaters.

"Longbottom, isn't it?" Malfoy asked with a glance at Bellatrix, who gave a slight nod, a terrible grin spread over her face. "I believe Bellatrix here has had the pleasure of meeting your parents."

"I doe she has!" I yelled, still trying to kick any Death Eater I could reach.

"Someone stun him!" a Death Eater yelled.

"No," Bellatrix said, holding up her hand. She stepped forward and paced back and forth in front of me, her expression making it clear that she had just gotten an idea. "Let's see how long he lasts before he cracks like his parents. Unless, of course, Potter wants to give us the prophecy…"

"Don't gib id to dem!" I yelled, still kicking and struggling against the Death Eater. "Harry, don't gib id to dem!"

"Crucio!" Bellatrix screamed. In the split second before I had to close my eyes against the pain, I saw in her eyes the complete and utter rush of excitement that she got out of doing this. I wondered if my parents had seen that look in her eyes as well. I wondered if that crazy look was the last thing they ever saw.

The pain was so bad that I was screaming like I had never screamed before and I brought my knees up to my chest. The Death Eater was holding me up off the floor, but not for long. He dropped me as if I was contagious and I hit the floor, still screaming in pain.

Finally, Bellatrix dropped her wand and the pain stopped. She knelt down beside me as I tried to catch my breath. "Did that hurt?" she asked her voice full of mock sympathy.

I glared up into her dark eyes, still too shaken up and weak to answer.

"Well, that was just a taster," she said, standing up again, "and now, either Potter will give us the prophecy, or you, Neville Longbottom, will be joining your parents in St. Mungo's shortly."

Harry still didn't move. He looked like he was teetering on the edge of handing it over, so I shook my head frantically. I didn't want him to give the Death Eaters what they wanted.

"No?" Bellatrix said after a moment. She looked down at me. "I'm sure mum and dad would be thrilled to see you, but unfortunately, they can't remember you, can they? No matter, because soon you won't remember them either. Crucio!"

The pain started again and the air was filled with the sound of my own screaming, but I could hear something else too. A small voice that sounded far away. It sounded like Luna. Was this part of going insane? Hearing her voice in my head?

"Excuse me," her voice was saying quietly. "Excuse me." It was getting louder, the pain wasn't stopping and I was still screaming. Suddenly, it all stopped, but I heard Luna's voice loud and clear. I had never heard her shout before. "Excuse me!" I blinked. The torture had stopped, but I could still hear her voice. My head snapped up and I couldn't help but smile.

Luna was standing at the top of the stone steps, her wand held out. She was conscious again! Or maybe I had gone insane and she wasn't really there. But then, if I had gone insane like my parents, I wouldn't know Luna at all. This was definitely real.

"What do you want?" Bellatrix snapped as Luna walked, almost glided down the stone steps. Her face was back to its calm, airy expression, showing no signs of having just shouted.

"You were hurting him," Luna said simply. "I'm putting a stop to it." She came to a halt behind me and I turned my head and looked up at her. She was staring at Bellatrix calmly and fearlessly. If she was scared, I couldn't tell. I think that made me fall for her even more, if that were possible.

"Luna," I whispered hoarsely.

She looked down at me for the first time and smiled. "Hello, Neville. Are you alright?"

"I will be," I answered. Luna gave a tiny nod and looked back up at Bellatrix.

Bellatix paused for a fraction of a second before she burst into laughter. "What's a little girl like you going to do to stop me?"

"Expelliar-," Luna began.

"Stupefy!" Bellatrix cried. Luna ducked and avoided the spell.

"Wow, you're very quick," she said. "I'll have to work on being that quick."

Bellatrix laughed again. "Grab her."

Luna ducked out of the way and sent a stunning spell at Bellatrix again, but it missed.

Bellatrix shot one spell after the other at Luna, who was trying her best to avoid them, but it was nearly impossible. One of the spells hit her and she flew backwards, crashing into the stone steps. Not again!

"Luna!" I yelled.

"Don't worry, Longbottom," Bellatrix laughed, kicking my foot. "Your oddball girlfriend's not dead. I just needed her out of my way for now so that I can get the prophecy. Are you ready to give it up now?" she asked, turning to Harry.

Harry looked down at the prophecy, then over to where Luna had fallen, then back at me. Finally, he held out his hand. Malfoy reached forward to take the prophecy, a look of triumph and joy on his face, but right when his hand was an inch away there were multiple flashes of bright white light. I closed my eyes against the brightness, but I could still see the light through my eyelids. What was going on?


	23. Chapter 23

_"For a moment a band of thieves in ripped up jeans got to rule the world." _**-_Long Live_ by Taylor Swift**

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><p>I opened my eyes when I couldn't see the bright light through my eyelids anymore. I was met with absolute chaos. The light had been from members of the Order of the Phoenix arriving and they were now fighting against the Death Eaters.<p>

I stood up to avoid being trampled and started dodging around people and spells. I wanted to get Luna out of the way. A spell came eerily close to hitting my head and I flung myself to the ground to avoid it.

"Are you alright?" Harry appeared on the ground next to me, the prophecy still clutched tight in his hand.

"Yes," I answered, trying to find a good opportunity to stand up.

"What about Ron?" Harry asked.

"I think he's alright. He was still fighting the brain when I left him."

I rolled out of the way just in time. A spell hit the space of floor between us, leaving a small crater right where my hand had been.

I managed to get myself into a crouching position. I probably looked like a monkey as I tried to make my way over to Luna. Suddenly, I heard a strangled, choking sound from behind me. Turning around, I saw a Death Eater with his arm wrapped tight around Harry's neck, choking him. Knowing what I had to do, I ran back towards Harry as fast as I could. I couldn't perform any spells, but I could use the wand in my hand for something else.

The Death Eater let out a loud yell of pain as I jabbed the wand into the eyehole of his mask. He let go of Harry at once and Harry took the opportunity to stun him.

"Thanks!" Harry said to me with a smile.

"Don't mention it," I said, breathlessly. I turned once again to get to Luna. I noticed Kinglsey and a masked Death Eater dueling way too close to where she was lying.

"Tarantallegra!" I heard a Death Eater shout. At once, my legs started moving without my control. I was almost doing a fast, crazy tap dance. I couldn't stay standing anymore, so I fell to the ground. Was I ever going to manage to get to Luna?

The same Death Eater who had shot the spell at me, turned to Harry and shot a nonverbal spell at him; the same one that had been used on Hermione. I could tell by the wand movement. Harry was too quick for him, though. He cast a shield charm, but the force of the spell hitting the shield, caused him to stumble backwards and trip over my still moving legs.

"Sorry, Harry, sorry!" I said.

"It's fine," he said quickly, standing back up to duel the Death Eater. Before he could, Sirius Black flew out of nowhere and tackled the Death Eater to the ground. Without wasting any time, they stood up and began dueling, spells flying like lightning bolts between them.

While they were distracted, I made up my mind that if I couldn't walk to Luna, I was going to crawl. If I couldn't use my legs, I was going to use my arms. Flipping over onto my stomach, I used my hands and forearms to drag myself forward.

I was almost there when I was distracted yet again. This time, by Harry. "Can you stand?" he asked.

"I have to get Luna," I said, continuing to drag myself forward. At this point, I didn't care what spells hit me as long as I didn't die or get knocked out.

"You're never going to get to her like that," Harry yelled. He had to yell because of the noise of the battle going on around us. "Put your arm around my neck."

I looked at him and made the decision to let him help me. I did as he said and he helped pull me to my feet. We had just barely made it to a standing position when a man came out of nowhere and smashed into us. Harry and I both fell to the ground, my legs still kicking wildly.

"Give me that prophecy, Potter!" Lucius Malfoy growled.

"No! Neville, catch it!" Harry rolled the prophecy across the floor towards me. I snatched it up before my uncontrollable legs could hit it and held it to my chest. Malfoy pointed his wand at me, but Harry blasted him off his feet with the Impedimenta spell.

"Harry, get the others and get out of here!" Lupin yelled.

Harry grabbed my arms at the elbow and dragged me across the floor. My legs were still moving and kicking, slamming into the floor repeatedly with their movements. We reached the first step and Harry dragged me up onto it.

"Harry," I said, tilting my head back to look up at him. "We have to get Luna. I'b dot leaving her dere."

"Neville, we have to get out first. I'll come back for her after I get you out. I promise. I can't bring both of you. You can't even stand, for one and I only-,"

"I'll go get her myself, den," I said, using my hands to ease myself back down the steps and across the floor.

"Neville, wait," Harry said. He grabbed my elbows again and dragged me back up the step. "Wait right here."

I watched as he darted over to Luna and picked her up. He jogged back over to me. "Hold out your arms."

I did as he said and he placed Luna in my arms. I still had the prophecy in my hand, so I used my wrist to hold Luna to me. I was careful to hold her above my legs so that they wouldn't kick her.

Harry let out a grunt as he lugged the combined weight of both me and Luna up another step. "Neville, can you try to use your legs to push yourself up?"

"I can try, Harry," I said. I tried to use my feet and legs to help him, but it was incredibly difficult. One of my legs slipped and I crashed back down onto the cold, hard stone. The impact combined with the fact that my hand was sweaty caused the prophecy to slip out of my grasp.

"No!" Harry and I yelled together. The prophecy stopped moving an inch before the step ended and we both breathed a sigh of relief. The moment only lasted for a second, though, because one of my twitching legs kicked the prophecy into the air. It landed with a crash on the step below us, broken into a million pieces.

A white, ghostly looking figure rose from the shattered prophecy. I could tell the figure was speaking, but I had no idea what it was saying due to all of the noise. Eventually, the figure faded away.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered. My mouth was hanging open and my heart was racing. "That was all my fault. I didn't mean to…"

"It doesn't matter. Let's just get out of here. Try to stand and we'll-,"

I tilted my head back to look at him again and tell him that it was hopeless; that I couldn't possibly stand up. That's when I saw the tall figure behind him, standing in the doorway, his wand held up. I blinked in surprise, hardly believing what I was seeing, but there was no mistaking that long white beard.

"Dubbledore!" I yelled.

"What?" Harry asked, clearly not understanding the language of broken nose.

"Dubbledore!" I said again.

Harry finally turned around just as Dumbledore started down the steps. He sped past us without a second glance.

When the Death Eaters realized he was there, they stopped fighting at once. Some of them tried to run, but Dumbledore waved his wand and forced them back. The only two people who hadn't stopped fighting were Bellatrix and Sirius.

Harry was still holding onto my elbows but neither one of us had no intention of moving just yet. We were too enthralled with what was going on below us and what Dumbledore was going to do now that he was here.

Sirius avoided one of Bellatrix's spells. He laughed as if this were all a fun game. "Come on, you can do better than that!" he teased.

Her second spell hit him right in the chest. His smile hadn't yet faded from his face, but his eyes widened in shock.

Harry let go of me and I fell onto my back. I held Luna tighter to me and craned my neck to see what was going on, resting my chin on the top of her head.

Sirius was falling backwards now and Bellatrix was cackling, clearly enjoying herself. Sirius fell right through the strange archway that had been behind him and disappeared.

Lupin caught Harry before he could reach the archway. "Harry, you can't help him. It's too late."

"No, he's going to come out the other side! He'll be there in a second, just wait!"

"No, Harry there's nothing you can do!" Lupin yelled. "He's gone!"

"He's not!

"Yes, Harry," Lupin said, his voice cracking. "He is."

"He's not," Harry repeated, but his voice was quiet now, a whisper. He finally stopped struggling enough so that Lupin could let go of him.

"Harry," I called down to him. He didn't turn but I knew he could hear me. I was only a few steps up from him. "Harry, I'm sorry, was Sirius Black a friend of yours?"

"Yeah," Harry said quietly with a nod, staring at Dumbledore, who was rounding up all the Death Eaters.

Lupin looked at my still moving legs. "Finite," he said. The spell lifted at once and I sighed happily as my legs stopped kicking.

"Let's find the others," Lupin continued. "Where are they, Neville?"

"Well, Luna's here obviously," I said, looking down at her. "I dink she's just unconscious, and Hermione and Ginny are both back there unconscious too, and Ron was attacked by brains but I dink he's alright."

There was suddenly a loud bang and we all looked up. Kingsley, who had taken over dueling Bellatrix had fallen to the ground. Bellatrix was running now; Dumbledore aimed a spell at her, but she deflected it. Cackling, she flew past me, up the steps. I actually wished Lupin hadn't lifted the spell off of my legs just yet so that I could have kicked her.

"I killed Sirius Black," she chanted as she darted up the steps and out the door.

Harry turned and ran by me as he chased after her. "Harry," Lupin called, but he didn't listen.

"She killed Sirius!" he yelled.

Lupin and I looked at each other. We knew there was no stopping Harry. He was going to go after her no matter what.

"Come help me round up the others," Lupin said. "Do you need me to take her?" He gestured to Luna.

"No, I'll do it," I insisted. I managed to stand up, ignoring the sore feeling coming from almost every one of my limbs. Adjusting Luna in my arms, I tilted my head towards the brain room. "They're in here."

"Wait," Lupin said, stopping me. With a wave of his wand, he fixed my nose. I flinched as I felt it snap into place.

"Thanks," I said.

Lupin followed me into the brain room. Ginny looked as if she had just woken up. "Neville, what's going on? Harry just ran through here not too long ago. He was chasing after Bellatrix and yelling."

"She killed Sirius Black," I said.

"Oh," Ginny gasped, covering her hand with her mouth. Even Ron looked up at me. He was miraculously still trying to get the brain off. "He was Harry's godfather," Ginny said.

"Was he?" I asked.

Lupin nodded and turned to Ginny. "Now, what happened to you?"

"Broken ankle," she answered.

"Let's see." Lupin knelt down beside her and Ginny removed her hands from around her ankle. With a wave of his wand, Lupin repaired it. I heard a small cracking noise and Ginny made a small whimper as the bone snapped back into place.

"Thanks," Ginny said as Lupin helped her up.

"Now, Neville, I'm going to need your help with Ron, so you're going to have to put Luna down for a few moments."

I agreed and set Luna on a nearby table. It was better than leaving her on the floor. Ginny stood next to her while I joined Lupin over by Ron. Whatever spell the Death Eaters had used on him seemed to have worn off. He was no longer giggling and he seemed to be back to normal.

"I couldn't get this brain off no matter what I tried," he said dejectedly. "I don't even remember how it got there. Well, I do, but I'm not sure why I even summoned it out of the tank. It was stupid of me."

Lupin looked confused so I explained that Ron had been hit with some strange spell that had made him go rather out of it for a while.

"Ah," Lupin answered. He looked as if he knew exactly what spell had been used but he didn't elaborate. "Neville, will you hold the brain up so that I can remove the tentacles from Ron's arms?"

I picked up the brain and held it up so that the tentacles were pulled tight instead of loosely hanging from Ron's arms. Lupin prodded each and every tentacle with his wand and muttered a few spells. One by one, the tentacles let go. Red marks covered Ron's arms where the brain had held him, but Lupin claimed Madam Pomfrey could fix those.

"What about Hermione and Luna?" I asked, dumping the brain back into the tank.

"What happened to them?" Ron asked, looking over at the two unconscious girls. "I don't really…" he shook his head and trailed off.

"It's alright," I said. "You were pretty out of it. Anyway, we don't know what Hermione was hit with, but she has a pulse and Luna," I ran my fingers down her arm, "was just knocked out."

"Well I can revive Luna," Lupin said, "but I think we should let Madam Pomfrey deal with Hermione. I'm not sure how to deal with reviving someone who has been a victim of the spell used."

"So you know what it was?" Ron asked.

"Yes," Lupin answered. "It was a spell that is mainly used only by Death Eaters. It knocks the victim unconscious for an indefinite amount of time, usually for a minimum of a few hours. The only reason I don't want to try and revive her is because she was knocked unconscious by a powerful spell, not just from hitting her head or by a less powerful form of magic. She should be just fine, though. When we leave, I'll carry her and bring her to the Hogwarts hospital wing. As for Luna…" he trailed off and pointed his wand at Luna. "Ennervate."

I laced my fingers through hers as her eyes fluttered open. She looked at us through those big, clear eyes and smiled. "Hello everyone," she said as if she had just woken up from a long nap. "Why am I in here? The last thing I remember is trying to fight Bellatrix."

"She knocked you unconscious again and I just carried you in here," I said.

"That makes sense. I wasn't fast enough for her," Luna said.

"You were brilliant," I argued.

"That's nice of you to say," she answered, sitting up. "You were very brave yourself." She looked around at the others standing by the table. "Hello Ron, Ginny," she said. "I'm glad to see you're alright. Professor Lupin, what are you doing here?"

"You don't have to call me 'Professor' anymore," he said with a small smile. "Remus will do and I'm here because the Order of the Phoenix was contacted and told to come straight here."

"Who contacted you?" I asked.

"Snape," Lupin said simply.

"Snape?" I asked.

"He's in the Order," Ginny said. "That must be why Harry told him that Sirius was here at the Ministry. We didn't realize at first that Snape was the only Order member left at Hogwarts."

"Yes, well, he contacted us immediately and we managed to get a hold of Dumbledore before we rushed over here," Lupin informed us.

We didn't get a chance to say anything else because we were interrupted by Dumbledore hurrying through the room in the direction that Harry had gone not too long ago.

"Where do you think he's going?" Ron asked.

"To help Harry of course," Ginny answered.

"Where did Harry go?" Luna tilted her head.

"He chased Bellatrix Lestrange," Lupin answered. "She killed Sirius Black, Harry's godfather. Naturally, he's a bit upset."

"Oh that's very unfortunate. That explains why Harry was so concerned when he thought Sirius was being held captive here." Luna nodded, looking upset by the news.

"Yes," Lupin answers, "but it was all a lie, implanted in Harry's head by You-Know-Who himself."

We were silent for a moment, and when we heard a distant yell and a crash coming from the direction Harry, Bellatrix and Dumbledore had gone, we all froze.

"What's going on?" Ginny asked.

"Stay here," Lupin ordered, running off to no doubt aid Dumbledore in whatever he was doing.

"Like hell we're staying here," Ron muttered. "I'll get Hermione." He picked her up and slung her over his shoulder and we all hurried out of the room as we followed the sounds of what was clearly another battle.


	24. Chapter 24

_"You put your arms around me and I'm home." **-Arms**_** by Christina Perri**

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><p>The crashes must have been incredibly loud because we had to go all the way back to the atrium to find the source of the noise. When we got there, we stopped short. Dumbledore was there and so were Harry and Lupin, as we expected, but they were sitting out of the way near the wall while Dumbledore fought none other than Voldemort. My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open. There were some pretty serious spells flying around; spells way out of our league, so we edged around the wall until we reached Harry and Lupin.<p>

"Dumbledore's got this under control, hasn't he?" Ron asked, his voice doing nothing to hide how impressed he was.

"Yeah," Lupin answered. Both he and Harry looked annoyed that they couldn't do anything to help Dumbledore fight.

"You don't want to get in the middle of that," I said. I glanced at Luna and almost laughed. She was staring open mouthed at the duel as if mesmerized.

"It's almost scary isn't it?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"What is?" I asked, not sure if she was talking about You-Know-Who, or the duel, or both. I was definitely a little scared of You-Know-Who. Or maybe a lot scared. I mean, he had red slits for eyes and hardly any nose. It was like he wasn't even human.

"The magic that they're doing and the level that they're on," she answered. "Everything about it is just so powerful. I mean, it's no wonder no one really stands a chance against You-Know-Who."

It was the closest she had come to ever admitting she was afraid of what You-Know-Who could do and was doing. I grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face me, burying her face into my chest so that she wasn't watching anymore.

"It'll be alright, Luna," I assured her. I didn't want her to know that I was scared too.

"I think you're right," she said, her voice muffled. "And for right now we're all here and we're all going to be okay." She looked up at me and flashed one of those traditional Luna smiles that I loved so much. "I like to take things one day at a time, you see. I don't like worrying about tomorrow or yesterday because tomorrow hasn't happened yet and yesterday already happened. Life is a lot better if we just focus on today, don't you think?"

I actually smiled. It was so like Luna to give a little motivational speech while the two most powerful wizards in the world dueled right over her shoulder.

"I do think so," I answered. "I need to learn to take your advice."

Harry stood up suddenly. "I have to at least help. I'm not going to -"

"Harry, are you mental?" Ginny asked. "Like Ron said, Dumbledore's got it under control. He can handle this."

"I've fought off Voldemort before," Harry said.

"Yeah, but not that," I said, pointing to a wave of fire shooting from Voldemort's wand.

Harry ignored us and took a few steps forward right as Voldemort seemed to vanish into a cloud of dust.

"Is that it then?" Luna asked, looking around.

"No, look," Ginny whispered, pointing.

She was right. A cloud of dust was traveling slowly through the air as if being pushed by a gust of wind; traveling right at Harry. It hit him and seemed to go right _into_ him. We all stared as Harry collapsed to the floor. He looked like he was in pain. Ginny made a move to step forward, but Lupin stopped her.

Harry kept writhing around on the floor and making odd facial expressions as if he were having a conversation with someone inside of his head.

"How odd," Luna said. "I definitely don't think Harry's been infested with Nargles. He isn't showing the correct symptoms, but it does seem that You-Know-Who has managed to possess him or something."

"I think that's exactly what's happened," whispered Lupin.

"Can't someone stop it?" Ginny asked. Dumbledore had knelt down beside Harry and was watching calmly.

"No," Lupin said, "we have to wait this out."

"You're the weak one," Harry suddenly said out loud. He was staring at a point in the air just over Dumbledore's shoulder. I was willing to bet he was talking to You-Know-Who. "You'll never know love or friendship," Harry continued, "and I feel sorry for you."

We all gasped as Harry suddenly flipped onto his back and the cloud of dust flew from him and Voldemort appeared once again, looking down at Harry.

"You're a fool, Harry Potter," he said. His voice was low and almost a little raspy and snakelike, which suited him. "And you will lose everything," he continued. Harry stared back up into the red eyes without blinking. It was a moment where anyone else would turn away, blink, _something_, but Harry never did.

The rest of us silently watched the scene unfolding before us. It felt like nobody was even daring to breathe anymore.

The silence was broken by a whooshing sound and a number of gasps. Everyone's eyes were drawn to the sound. Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic was standing by one of the fireplaces lining the far wall of the room. A group of people, most likely other Ministry workers and Aurors, were standing behind him.

Voldemort's expression changed from shock to a sneer before he disappeared almost into thin air.

"He's back," Fudge whispered.

"Well done," Ron whispered sarcastically. "It took him long enough."

Dumbledore didn't address Fudge right away. Instead, he organized a Portkey for Harry and ordered him to take it, telling him to head straight to his office.

"Dumbledore, you are not authorized to make that Portkey," Fudge began.

"Tonight, Cornelius," Dumbledore interrupted, "I will give you," he pulled a watch from one of his pocket and glanced at it, "half an hour of my time which I think should be enough to explain the night's events. Then, I will return to my school and you will give the order for Delores Umbridge to be removed as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. If you need any assistance with anything, you are more than welcome to contact me at Hogwarts. Letters addressed to the headmaster will find me."

Fudge's mouth opened and closed a few times. He seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Now, Harry, take the Portkey," Dumbledore said. He paused and looked in our direction. "I would ask if you wanted to take it as well, but if I am correct, there are a few thestrals outside that need to return to the Forbidden Forest."

"Oh, yes, we can get them back," Luna said.

"Thestrals?" the Minister asked. "How is that-?"

"I will explain everything shortly, Cornelius," Dumbledore said calmly. He gestured for Harry to take the Portkey, which he did. I watched him disappear, feeling awful for what he had gone through in the course of one evening.

Dumbledore joined our group standing by the wall. "Remus, I would appreciate it if you and the other available Order members would round up the unconscious members and bring them to St. Mungo's. I will take care of the Death Eaters once I am finished with Cornelius."

Lupin nodded and hurried off at once, back towards the Department of Mysteries. Dumbledore turned to us.

"Now, I think the only problem remaining is how you are going to get six thestrals back to school when there are five of you remaining and one of you is unconscious." His eyes drifted to Hermione, still in Ron's arms.

"Well, Ron can take Hermione on his thestral," Luna said. "That leaves two empty ones." She stopped and stared at the ceiling in thought. "I think I can handle it."

"Ah, yes, I don't doubt that," Dumbledore said. "I hear you have quite a gift with animals and magical creatures."

"She does," I said proudly.

Luna smiled and I saw her cheeks turn a faint pink.

"Once you get back to school, I'd like for you to all go straight to the hospital wing and let Madam Pomfrey check you over." Dumbledore looked around at each of us, no doubt taking in our bloodied and bruised state.

"It's just Hermione that's really hurt now, Professor," Ginny said.

"Even so, I'd like her to double check to make sure." Dumbledore gave us a small smile and we agreed to follow his order.

"I meant to ask you," Luna said as we walked towards the waiting telephone booth, "who fixed your nose?"

"Lupin did," I answered. "How does it look?"

"Very nice," she said, "although I expect it'll look better once you've cleaned off all the blood."

"Yeah," I muttered, wiping my face with my sleeve. I doubted it did any good, though. The blood had already dried for the most part.

Once inside the telephone booth, Ginny pressed the correct numbers and we rode up to the street in silence. The thestrals were all waiting for us across the street in the shadow of a building. Luna helped Ginny and Ron onto thestrals while I held Hermione. Once Ron was settled, I passed Hermione to him and he arranged her in front of him, reaching over her to hold onto the thestral's neck. I mounted my own thestral a little more skillfully this time and looked around for Luna. She was talking to two of the thestrals standing behind us; the two that we weren't using.

"I need you go fly back to Hogwarts," she whispered, patting their noses. "Harry was already transported there and Hermione's unconscious as you might have noticed. Dumbledore told us to get you back to the forest where you belong, so you need to go there now, okay?"

I tilted my head as I watched her. Her voice was so calm and relaxing. It was as if she were talking to a child or a beloved pet.

"You talk to them like they understand," I said.

"Oh, they do," she answered as the thestrals nudged her shoulders. Then, they turned and extended their massive wings. They each flapped them twice before lifting into the air and flying into the darkness. Luna smiled and her hair fluttered in the wind from the thestral's wings.

"How did you do that?" I asked.

"Do what?" she answered simply, climbing onto her own thestral.

"Get them to listen to you."

"They listened to her?" Ron asked. "Just like that? They flew off?"

"I expect they trust me," she said. "I've been feeding them and talking to them for a while now."

"But how do they understand?" I asked.

Luna shrugged. "I'm not sure, but thestrals are very magical and very intelligent. I don't find it surprising at all really that they understand."

"Of course not," Ron said, but he was smiling slightly and shaking his head.

"Let's get going, then," Ginny said.

"Yes, absolutely," Luna agreed. She patted her thestrals neck. "Alright, we're ready. We need you to take us back to school please."

The thestral moved his head up and down as if he really did understand. Seconds later, all of us were in the air. I let out a yelp and held on tighter. I still hadn't gotten used to the sudden movements the thestrals made when they took off.

The flight back to school seemed to take a lot less time than the flight to the Ministry. In what felt like almost no time at all, we were landing in the exact same spot we had taken off from hours earlier.

We started the long walk back up to the castle. "Do you need some help, Ron?" I asked, gesturing to Hermione.

"No, I can handle it," he answered.

I shrugged and took Luna's hand. "You're alright, aren't you?"

"I'm fine, Neville. I was only knocked out for a little while. Personally, you look a lot worse."

"But once I clean my face off I'll be fine," I said, waving my free hand dismissively.

"I don't doubt that." Luna nodded seriously, "although, I think a crooked nose does suit you. It's a little more rugged, isn't it?"

"Er, I suppose so," I said with a shrug. Maybe she had somewhat of a point, but I didn't think living with a crooked nose sounded terribly fun.

"At least we don't have to worry about running into Umbridge," Ginny said a moment later.

"I wonder if she ever got away from the centaurs," Ron said.

"Maybe they ate her," Ginny suggested.

"Or pinned her to a tree with their bows and arrows," I said.

"Or maybe they fed her to the Umgubular Slashkilters," Luna chimed in. We all looked at her. "They're said to live in forests. I've never come across any in this forest, but I've never actually gone very deep in there before so I can't say for sure if there are any living here."

"And they eat people?" I asked.

"Well, no, not typically, but they are attracted to the color pink," Luna answered.

When we finally reached the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey settled Hermione onto a bed at once and closed a curtain around her without asking questions. Dumbledore had probably already alerted her. Then, despite their protests, she pushed both Ron and Ginny onto beds so that she could check them over. There was another occupied bed as well, surrouned by a curtain, but no one asked who was behind it.

"You'd better at least sit down," Madam Pomfrey said to Luna. "Your lip is bleeding. That'll take me just a second to fix." She hurried away to her office to get the things she needed.

I looked over and saw that she was right. Luna made herself comfortable on the edge of the bed next to Ron.

"And what happened to you?" Madam Pomfrey asked me as she returned.

"Broken nose, but someone fixed it."

"Who, may I ask?" She took my chin and moved my head from side to side as she examined my nose.

"Professor Lupin," I said. "Well, he's not our professor anymore, but…" I trailed off and shrugged.

"Hm, he did a decent job," Madam Pomfrey said. She handed me a damp cloth and pointed to a mirror positioned above a sink across the room. "You'd better go clean your face, though. It's a mess."

I crossed the room and began scrubbing the dried blood off my face. As I was doing that, I happened to glance in the mirror. I stopped what I was doing and watched as Madam Pomfrey bent over Luna first and waved her wand. Luna smiled and said something, causing the nurse to laugh before she moved on to examine Ginny and Ron.

I smiled to myself. It was so odd how there was no doubt that a war was about to begin now that everyone knew Voldemort was back, but Luna could make people laugh and make them feel happy despite all of the dark things that were happening.

Once I had finished cleaning my face, I rejoined the others. Ginny had sat up and was sitting on the edge of the bed. Luna was sitting next to her and Ron was still lying down on his own bed. I took a seat at the foot of Ron's bed.

"I have to stay here an extra few nights," he informed me, "so that Madam Pomfrey can get rid of these." He held up his arms to show me the marks from the brain.

"I would expect that they would be difficult to remove with or without magic," Luna said. "That brain just wouldn't let up. Plus it looked as if they were sitting in the type of water Moon Frogs like to live in."

"What kind of water is that?" Ron asked.

Before Luna could answer, Madam Pomfrey came out from behind Hermione's curtain and shooed us away. "Mr. Weasley is going to need his rest and from what I understand so do you three."

We nodded and said goodnight to Ron, who looked anything but thrilled to be left alone in the hospital wing for the night.

"Guess who Madam Pomfrey said was in that other occupied bed?" Ginny asked me after we had left.

"Who?" I asked curiously.

"Umbridge," she laughed. "Apparently, she's going to be okay, but right now she's pretty bruised and shaken up. Kind of a shame, really that it wasn't worse. I was kind of hoping that Luna's theory would be true. It sounds by far the best."

"Yes, but at least she won't be teaching here anymore," Luna said. "We won't have to deal with her anymore and the Ministry knows Dumbledore and Harry were telling the truth."

"Speaking of Harry, I wonder where he is now," Ginny said.

"Dumbledore told him to go to his office," I answered.

"Yes, but I wonder if he's done speaking with him yet."

"I don't think so," Luna said. "My guess is that they have a lot to talk about."

"You're probably right," Ginny sighed. "Harry's going to blame himself for what happened to Sirius, you know."

"He shouldn't," Luna shrugged. "I mean, what if it had turned out to be real and he hadn't gone? He would have blamed himself then, too."

"And in both scenarios, Sirius died," I said sadly.

We were silent for a while longer. When we were one hallway over from the Gryffindor common room, I turned to Luna so that I could say goodbye.

"I'll see you two tomorrow then. Don't stay out too late." Ginny gave a small smirk and wiggled her finger.

Luna and I smiled and watched her go. When she had disappeared from view, I turned back to Luna. "Do you want me to walk you to your common room?"

"No, I think I can handle it," Luna answered. "Thank you, though." She paused for a moment. "So, do you think we passed?"

"Passed?" I raised an eyebrow and tilted my head.

"You know, the DA final exam," she said with a small smile.

I let out a tiny laugh. "I'd say we did."

"Good," she said. "That makes me feel very proud. Of all of us."

"Can I tell you something?" I asked.

"Yes, I think you can," she answered.

"I think your mother was very accurate when she chose your name."

"Why do you think that?" she asked, tilting her head to one side and smiling.

"Your name means moon, right?" I began. When Luna nodded, I continued. "The moon comes out at night, when it's dark. It provides light, even though everything else is in darkness. That's what you do. When people are upset, you know how to cheer them up. You always know the right thing to say, and even tonight, when things can only go downhill from here, you make people smile. I saw you making Madam Pomfrey laugh…" I trailed off. "I just think your mother was very smart and very accurate."

"She'd love to hear what you just said." Luna smiled up at me and squeezed my hand.

I smiled back. "I wish she could."

"Don't worry, Neville," Luna answered. She gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek. "She did," she whispered before turning and walking away towards her dorm.

I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, a small smile forming on my face. I stood there, in the middle of the hallway, staring after Luna, even after she had turned the corner.


	25. Chapter 25

_"Wherever you go, if my heart was a house you'd be home." **-If My Heart Was a House **_**by Owl City**

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><p>On the last night at Hogwarts, a few days later, I was lying on my stomach across my bed. The feast would be starting now, but I wasn't there. Instead, I was making signs listing all of my possessions that had gone missing since the beginning of the year. It seemed that a lot of students liked to play keep away with them, and also hide them so there was no telling where I would find my things.<p>

I stood up, finally having finished, and headed out of my dormitory. I was going to have to miss most of the feast or skip it altogether. I had spent most of the day with Neville and had planned to pack tonight, but decided to make signs once I realized just how many of my possessions were missing.

The hallways were empty as I hung up my signs. Everyone was at the feast. I heard footsteps coming towards me and I looked up in surprise.

"How come you're not at the feast?" Harry stopped beside me and tilted his head slightly.

"I've lost all my possessions," I said with a half smile as I gestured to the sign I had just stuck to the wall behind me. "People like to take them and hide them."

"That's awful," Harry said, sounding shocked that people would do such a thing.

"It's all in good fun," I assured him, "but seeing as it's the last night, I really do need them back."

"Do you need any help finding them?"

I smiled and shook my head. There was a short pause. "I'm sorry about your godfather, Harry." I reached over and took his hand, giving it a squeeze.

He nodded. "Yeah, thanks, Luna," he said.

"I know how it feels. I told you about my mum, I think…"

"Yeah, you did," Harry answered.

I nodded. "I do still feel sad about it sometimes, but it's not like I won't ever see her again."

"Isn't it, though?" Harry looked confused.

"No," I answered, shaking my head. "You heard them, just behind the veil, didn't you?"

"You mean-?" Harry began.

"In that room with the archway. They were just lurking out of sight, that's all. You heard them."

Harry just stared at me and I stared back, a small smile on my face. "I actually thought you'd be with Neville tonight," he said.

"I was with him all day," I said. "I wasn't originally planning on skipping the feast, though, so he's probably wondering where I am. Maybe I'll head down there soon."

There was another pause as we walked a few feet down the hallway, where I hung up another sign.

"Are you sure you don't want any help looking?" Harry asked.

"That's alright," I said. "Anyway, my mum always said things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end if not in the way we expect." I happened to look up and see a pair of my shoes dangling from the ceiling not too far away. "I think I'll go find Neville and also see if there's any pudding at the feast." I gave Harry a small wave and turned away.

"Wait, aren't you…?" Harry pointed up at my shoes.

I shrugged. "I'll get them later. I don't think they'll be going anywhere. You see, my feet aren't in them to make them walk away."

"Ah," Harry said, and a ghost of a smile actually flickered across his face before disappearing.

I waved again and turned to head downstairs to the feast. I was beginning to really look forward to having some pudding and of course, seeing Neville again.

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><p>As I stood in the doorway of the great hall, my eyes immediately began searching for Neville. Finally, I found him, sitting at the Gryffindor table between Hermione and Seamus. I skipped over to him, ignoring the looks from other people. Hermione saw me coming and slid down a little bit. Wordlessly, I slid into the spot next to Neville and placed the remainder of my signs on the table in front of me.<p>

"Luna!" Neville said happily. "Where were you? I noticed you weren't sitting with your house."

"Oh, I was hanging these up around the school," I said, touching the signs.

Neville's smile faded as he picked up the top one and scanned it. "Your things are missing?"

"Yes, people take them and hide them. It's all in good fun, though and they'll turn up. I've just told Harry the same thing. He was very concerned as well."

"Yeah, because it's not right for people to take your things and hide them," Neville said. "That's stealing."

"Tell a teacher," suggested Hermione, who had heard the conversation.

"They always do turn up," I assured them both, "and anyway, I never know who for sure is taking my things, so telling a teacher wouldn't really be much use." I looked down at the list of missing items I had printed on the signs. "I did find my shoes, though, so that's one less thing I have to worry about."

"But still, half of your possessions must be on here," Neville said. "You'll be looking all night."

"I doubt that," I said with a small laugh. "I bet most of my things will be returned by the time I go to sleep tonight. Everything will be piled on top of my bed. You see, people won't want to keep my things. They have no use for them and since school is over, they'll return them until next year when they'll steal everything again."

"Does this happen every year?" Neville asked.

"Usually, yes," I answered, "but never so close to the end of the school year. That's why I made signs tonight; to hurry the process along."

"I'll help you look," Neville said, determinedly.

"No, it's quite alright," I answered, smiling. "Everything will turn up. I'm sure of it."

Neville stared at me, clearly unsure whether he should listen to me or insist he help me look. "Shouldn't you go sit at the Ravenclaw table?" he asked finally. "It isn't that I don't want you here of course," he quickly added. "It's just that I don't want you to get into trouble."

"I don't think I'll get into any trouble tonight," I said, patting his arm.

"She's right, you know. The only person who really cared about the separate table rule was Umbridge," Seamus joined in from the other side of Neville, "and she isn't here anymore, so lighten up, Neville." He nudged Neville's shoulder and grinned.

Neville's face cracked into a smile and he slid his plate towards me. "Do you want some?"

I smiled back and shook my head. "I'll get my own. You should eat yours. It's very good and I wouldn't want to steal any of it from you."

"I don't mind," Neville said.

"Perhaps you should," I said with a smile. "I would if I were you. This food is always very good and I'm not sure I'd want to share." I smiled even wider to show I was teasing. Well, mostly teasing anyway.

"You're right," Neville teased back, pulling his plate away. "This is all mine and no one else's."

I laughed as Seamus reached over Neville's arm and picked a piece of food off of the plate. Neville protested, but Seamus was already chewing and swallowing.

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><p>Leaving Hogwarts always makes me feel slightly sad. I'm happy to be going home to dad, but at the same time, I hate saying goodbye to the things I loved about Hogwarts, such as the thestrals and the school owls, even if it's only a few months until I see them again.<p>

The entrance hall was crowded as students all tried to make their way out at once. Through the commotion, I heard someone calling my name. I turned and saw Neville squeezing through the crowd on the staircase. I stopped in my tracks and a few people grumbled impatiently as they had to go around me.

"What is it Neville? You seem to have something important to say."

"I do," he said as he reached me. In one arm, he was carrying his mimbulus mimbletonia, which had grown quite a bit since the start of the year. The other hand was concealed behind his back. "Will you hold this for a second, please?" he asked, sticking the mimbulus mimbletonia into my arms.

"It looks as if it's grown very nicely," I said, observing the plant.

"It has, but that's not what I wanted to show you," he answered. With his newly freed hand, he reached into his bag. "Did all of your things get returned?"

"Yes, everything was on my bed, just like I had predicted."

"Well, I think you actually might be missing one thing," he said, pulling out from his bag, a slightly wrinkled paper. It was one of the signs I had made.

"No, I don't think so," I said, wrinkling my nose in thought.

"Yes, look," Neville handed me the paper and I looked down at it as the crowd continued to move around us. At the very bottom of the list, in Neville's handwriting, was one word. "Daisies."

"Daisies?" I asked. "I don't have any-,"

Neville interrupted me by pulling his hand out from behind his back. He was holding a flowerpot filled with yellow daisies.

"My favorite flower," I said, reaching out to touch one of the many bright yellow petals.

"Here, take the whole thing, it's yours." Neville handed me the pot and took his mimbulus mimbletonia back. "I grew them myself. Professor Sprout let me use a corner of one of the greenhouses especially for those."

"Did she really?" I asked. "That was very generous of her."

Neville nodded in agreement. "There's more, though. The petals will change color every day. Randomly, though, so you'll never know what color they'll be. It'll be a complete and total surprise every morning."

"Oh how lovely!" I said enthusiastically. "That sounds wonderful. I like that idea. Did you do that all by yourself as well?"

"No, Professor Sprout helped me put the charm on them," Neville blushed. "I haven't learned that kind of magic yet."

"Nothing to be embarrassed about," I said, patting his hand. "Anyway, I know just where to put these."

"Where?" Neville asked curiously as we started walking out the front doors.

"On the windowsill in my room. They'll get plenty of sun there and I can feed and water them every day. I'll also get to see what color they are right when I wake up."

"Good idea," Neville replied seriously. "Oh, but that does remind me…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little bag of plant food. "This is the food you need to give them. Professor Sprout also helped me charm the bag to refill when it's empty so you'll never have to worry about getting more."

"How thoughtful of you," I said, taking the bag from him. "Thank you very much. How long did it take you to grow these?"

"About a month," Neville answered. "They were finally ready last night, so I went down to the greenhouses after the feast to get them."

"Right on time," I said, looking up at him.

"Yeah," he agreed with a small laugh.

Neville and I took a carriage to the train station together with Ginny and Dean. Once we reached the station, we caught up with Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"I've been thinking about something Dumbledore said to me," Harry said.

"What's that?" Hermione asked.

"That even though we've got a fight ahead of us, we've got one thing that Voldemort doesn't have."

"Yeah?" Ron said.

"Something worth fighting for," Harry finished.

"Well said, Harry," I told him. He turned and looked at me, a small, weary smile on his face.

We lugged our things onto the train and found a compartment together. Dean went off to sit with Seamus and I heard Ginny promise to catch up with him later.

I sat down by the window and Neville sat next to me. Ginny pulled out the latest edition of the Quibbler that I had given her yesterday and began to read.

"The magazine's been doing really well since your interview, Harry," I said happily. "Dad's thrilled."

"That's great," Harry said sincerely.

"I saw Cho this morning, Harry," Hermione said tentatively. "Things are really over with her?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "It didn't work out, but oddly enough, I don't mind as much as I thought I would."

"She's with someone else now," Hermione said. "You don't mind?"

"No, like I said, I really don't mind that it didn't work out," Harry shook his head.

"Who is she with?" Ron asked.

"Michael Corner," Ginny answered at once, still reading The Quibbler.

"But I thought you were dating him," Ron said.

"No, I dumped him," Ginny said. "He was being a sore loser about Gryffindor beating Ravenclaw at Quidditch so I dumped him and he ran off to comfort Cho."

"Oh," Ron said. He looked slightly happy at the news. "Well, you'll just have to choose someone better next time."

"Well, I've chosen Dean Thomas. Would you say that's better?"

"What?" Ron yelped. "Dean Thomas? As in my _roommate_, Dean Thomas?"

"Yes, unless you know another person by that name." Ginny finally raised her eyes from the magazine and stared calmly at her brother. Neville was laughing into his hand while Harry and Hermione looked mildly interested in Ron's apparent shock.

"You didn't know?" I asked.

"Nobody tells me anything," Ron mumbled, crossing his arms.

When the witch pushing the trolley came by, we each bought a fair amount of candy and shared it amongst ourselves. Neville held up a box of Every Flavor Beans and shook it slightly, a grin on his face. "Hold out your hand."

I did as he said and he poured some of the beans into my hand. I immediately noticed a few banana flavored ones and pushed them to the side of my hand before picking up a green colored one. Neville poured some beans into his own hand and chose a brown one. "I'm hoping this one is chocolate," he said.

"On three," I said with a smile. We counted to three and popped the beans into our mouths. "Hmm, grass," I said, tilting my head. "Not bad."

"Dirt," Neville said, looking disgusted.

Ginny reached over and stuck her hand into the box. "Strawberry," she said happily, looking thrilled that she had gotten a bean with a normal flavor.

"Lucky," Neville mumbled.

"She's actually very scary when it comes to the Every Flavored Beans," Ron whispered. "She seems to know which ones are the most disgusting flavors and never eats them. I can't tell the vomit flavored from the buttered popcorn ones."

"That keeps things more exciting, though," I told him, "so maybe things are better that way."

Ron just shrugged and went back to eating his sugar quill.

"You know, Ron, those sugar quills are the worst possible things for your teeth," Hermione said.

"All candy is bad for your teeth," Ron answered, watching her eat a chocolate frog.

"Yes, but those are entirely made of sugar," she argued.

Ron shrugged again and continued to eat. Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes before taking out a book and opening it.

"You know, Luna," Neville said, "I would love to see you over the summer."

"I would love to see you too," I said. "I'm going to Sweden with my dad for two weeks, but that's not until mid-August."

"We'll have to plan to see each other before you leave then," Neville answered.

"That sounds lovely. I've never really spent time with anyone outside of school before. It's just me and dad."

"Isn't that terribly lonely?" Neville looked shocked.

"Sometimes," I shrugged one shoulder, "but I'm very good at thinking of things to do by myself."

"I'll write to you too," he said. "All the time."

"Okay," I said excitedly. "We'll have to write while I'm in Sweden as well. I can keep you updated on the search for Crumple Horned Snorkacks."

"You'd better," Neville answered. "I'm interested to see if you find any."

"So am I," Ron muttered.

"I think we all are," Ginny added.

"I wasn't aware there was so much pressure on me to find them," I said with a smile.

"Oh, no pressure," Neville assured me. "We're just interested. If you don't find any, we'll still be your friends and I'd still be your boyfriend." He elbowed me gently and smiled.

"I would hope so," I answered. "It's quite nice to have friends and a boyfriend. I rather like it."

Neville brushed my cheek with his thumb. "I like it too. A lot."

I smiled at him and he threw his arm around my shoulder, pulling me towards him and planting a gentle kiss on my forehead. I tucked my legs under me and leaned against him.

I wished that the train ride would never end. I didn't want to say goodbye to the friends I had acquired and grown closer to over the past school year, but I knew this wouldn't be goodbye forever. After all, my mum used to say that a goodbye is never painful unless you're never going to say hello again and I knew the only thing that would make parting with my friends easier would be the prospect of one day soon saying hello again.

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><p><strong>AN: ****Well, this is the last chapter for this story. I'm most likely going to be doing a sequel and continuing this story through the last two years and maybe a little after, so be on the lookout for that.**

**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and added this story to their favorites or alerts. You guys are really my motivation for writing and updating quickly so thank you. :)**


	26. Sequel Preview

**A/N: I started a sequel to this story. It's called Dumbledore's Army Still Recruiting so I added a preview for it here for anyone who has this story on their alerts :)**

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><p>I calmly stood by my next to the bright red train on platform 9 ¾. I was supposed to be meeting Neville here, and instead of craning my neck to look for him, like most people might have done, I just stood there and turned my head from side to side, watching people walk by.<p>

"Any sight of him?" my father asked.

"No, not yet," I answered. I was actually quite enjoying myself as I waited for Neville. It was giving me the opportunity to people watch. I've always thought just watching people was interesting. Everyone is so different from each other and it's fun and interesting to watch.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by someone calling my name. I turned my head and saw Neville fighting his way through a crowd of people going the other way. Trevor the toad was clutched under one arm and the handle to his trunk was grasped in his other hand.

"Neville!" I exclaimed, turning fully towards him and hugging him when he reached me. He gladly returned it and I buried my nose into his sweater. I had really missed him.

"It's so good to see—oh, hang on." Neville broke off he hug and gave me a reluctant smile as he stepped past me and made a lunge for Trevor.

"You should keep a better hold on that thing," my father said when Neville returned. "If not, he could get snatched up by a Crumple Horned Snorkack. They like to eat frogs sometimes, you know."

"Well, this is a toad. Slightly different," Neville said, holding Trevor up. "But that does remind me, how was your trip to Sweden? Did you find anything interesting?"

"We were specifically looking for the Snorkack," dad said, smiling at Neville. His smile faded, however. "We didn't find any, though, no."

"That's too bad."

"I still took lots of pictures. I'll be glad to show you them on the train, or whenever you feel like looking at them, really."

"I'd love that," Neville said. He grinned and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, kissing my temple. Neville and I had been dating since last December. I couldn't believe it had almost been a full year already. Time had really flown by. It was funny like that. Time, I mean.

"Where's your grandmother?" I asked.

"She should be coming," Neville answered, looking over his shoulder. Sure enough, his grandmother was slowly coming towards them, carrying her typical red handbag.

"Good, you've found them," she said to Neville when she reached us.

"Hello," I said politely, "it's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you again as well," she said with a slight nod. She shook my dad's hand and was about to start up a conversation when the train's whistle blew.

"Well, it looks like it's time for you to go," my father said, giving me a hug and shaking Neville's hand.

"I'll see you soon," I said to dad. I gave Neville's grandmother a wave before turning towards the train with Neville at my side.


End file.
